The Life of an Assassin
by writingzeaL
Summary: AU. Sasuke is a top assassin and Sakura is a normal teenage girl...or so she thinks. She has something that Orochimaru is trying to get. Sasuke is assigned to protect her. Teenage problems? What is it Orochimaru wants? Who's involved? firstficlotsoferrors
1. An Assassin's Off Job Life

**The Life of an Assassin**

**Chapter 1: An Assassin's Off Job Life.**

In the midst of the cold dark night, a figure in the shadows lay still, waiting for his prey. Watching like a hawk, Uchiha Sasuke, top assassin, sought out his victim. Nothing but his dangerous eyes could be seen for he was wearing all black, like a bat lurching in the dark. He was atop a high tower looking down at a hotel, spotting who he was looking for.

He jumped down a few balconies until he was level with the hotel's top level. He could see many rich and sophisticated people talking and drinking together. He was still looking through the glass when he got a glimpse of pink hair. His gaze fell upon the beautiful girl. She seemed about average height for a girl his age.

'_Uchiha, snap out of it! Just find the guy and take care of things already!' _Sasuke began to scold himself after watching the pretty girl for too long. He was getting distracted from his job.

As the man he was looking for stepped out onto the balcony, Sasuke prepared to take him out swiftly and silently. He took out a kunai from the pouch on his right leg as a jumped unnoticed onto the roof of the hotel. Staring down at his prey, he jump and landed right behind the man.

Startled, the rich man turned around and was about to scream when suddenly, a kunai sliced the mans throat. He stood there and watched the man fall dead. Sasuke smirked to himself, "Job well done Uchiha."

The same black figure disappeared into the night. The pink-haired girl saw something move outside on the balcony but just brushed it off. For all she knew, it could have been a cat.

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Sasuke walked in front of huge black gates that lead to his school. The school was called Leaf Valley Academy and it was attended by some of the richest people in all of Tokyo. Although Sasuke didn't live with anyone, his butler was always good company. His house wasn't that big either, just big enough for him to live in. Since his parents and brother left him a long time ago for the U.S., he figured he didn't need them anyway. He's been cold hearted ever since.

He walked in through the gates quietly and looked around. There weren't students around because the bell rang already. Feeling relieved, he walked into the building. _'Finally no fan girls.'_

Up the elevator to the fifth floor, Sasuke walked down the empty corridors into room 3-A, grade twelve class. Sliding the door open, everyone inside were chatting and sitting on desks, throwing papers around and shouting. '_School's the same everyday.' _While thinking to himself, he walked to his desk. He spotted his best friend Naruto playing cards with a few of the students in class. By the looks of it, it looked like poker.

"Ha! I win again suckers. Hand over the cash!" Naruto was rejoicing after winning his fifth game. The other three gave up their money groaning. Naruto counted his money and saw Sasuke at his desk. "Oy Sasuke! When did you get here? Ha! Look," he flashed his wad of cash in Sasuke's face. Even though Naruto was rich himself, he still needed the extra for his own stuff.

"Hn…" was all Sasuke said as he looked out the window. It was already fifteen minutes past eight and still no teacher. He was very entertained by the sakura petals that fell from the trees below him. It was a beautiful October morning.

"Okay! Everyone, get into your seats." Finally, Kakashi walked in through the doors with a very familiar book in his hands. "First of all class, we have a new student and--"

"You're late again! Ha oh yeah buddy, quiet reading that book too. It's disgusting." Naruto again of course blurted that out. Everyone just giggled a little bit, not wanting to tick off their teacher.

"Anyways, like I was saying we have a new student all the way from the big cities in U.S. Please welcome Haruno Sakura." He moved his hand in the direction of the door which was partly slid open.

Sasuke really wasn't paying attention because he didn't care about these kinds of things, but when he heard the name 'Haruno Sakura,' his head snapped in the direction of the door. He saw a slender woman walked in with bright pink hair. Sasuke froze…that was a the same girl from the hotel. His mouth was slightly open and then he glared at Kakashi.

'_Wow, she's still as beautiful as before…' _This was all in his head, though. If he said it out loud his reputation would be at stake, not to mention she was new and no one had seen her before.

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"_Well done Uchiha. That didn't take you that long now, did it." In a large rotation chair, a silver-haired man sat, fingers intertwined in front of his masked face. "You doubted me that much pervert? He was just a skimpy old man with a lot of cash. He wasn't that hard." Sasuke was standing in front of Kakashi's desk with his mask off but his attire still on._

"_Do you think you can do another mission for me? I mean, if that's okay for the 'world's greatest assassin.' I warn you though, it's a tough one." Kakashi had a brown envelope in his hands outstretched to Sasuke._

_Without hesitation, Sasuke opened the envelope and looked at the black and white picture of a young girl of eighteen years old. "She's my target? That's not that hard," all kakashi did was shake his head. "No she's not the target, she's the one your target is aiming for." He handed Sasuke another envelope with a picture of a snake like man in it. "You mean I have to protect her? And from this ugly freak too? That's just perfect. I have school you know. Everyone's going to get suspicious." Sarcasm was clear in his voice. "Wait, why is he after her?"_

_Kakashi laughed with a bit of enthusiasm. "My, my, Sasuke. You're feeling good today now aren't you? You've been insulting people with a hint of joy in your voice. Oh and you finally took your job seriously. You actually care that people would figure out who you are. Before you never thought like this." Sasuke didn't know what to say to that. He just felt like he wanted to do this mission. It's his first protecting someone. A new challenge he guessed. But why was he after her? Kakashi still didn't answer her._

_It was true that he never thought like that before. When he first took the job, he just thought of it as a way to get a good pay and a sort of 'club' outside of school that he could do to pass time. But this time, he's starting to take it more seriously. He didn't know why, it just felt like he didn't want this Orichimaru guy to get Haruno Sakura. _

"_He is kind of ugly…" He accidentally said it out loud but only loud enough to be a whisper. "What was that Uchiha?" Kakashi eyed him oddly. He really wasn't acting like himself. _

"_Oh uh nothing really," he was trying not to stutter. "It's just that I wasn't sure if he was the only one going for her cause it's not going to be much of a challenge if it's just him. You know what I mean…Oh and why is he after her?" '_Good cover up Uchiha, very smooth. I hope Kakashi didn't notice_.' He thought._

_Eyeing Sasuke one more time, he continued with the debriefing. "You do have school tomorrow. Get some rest and prepare for the unexpected. You'll find out soon enough why they're after her. If your brave enough maybe you can ask Sakura herself? Hmm?" A final glimmer in Kakashi's eye was all that was seen after that._

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He knew that Kakashi said, 'prepare for the unexpected' but this was ridiculous.

"Hello, my name is Haruno Sakura. I'm very pleased to meet you all." She began to speak and everyone lay quiet. All the guys in the class were dumbfounded. Sasuke heard most of them say things like, 'Wow she's pretty!' or 'Damn she's hot.' He ignored all of these comments though but he really didn't like many guys doing that to girls; it gave him shivers. "Stupid perverts…" he mumbled under his breath.

"Thank you Ms. Haruno. Please take a seat," Kakashi scanned the classroom. Everyone looked for an empty seat but couldn't see one except for, "next to Uchiha Sasuke." Every guy in the room glared at Sasuke for getting the pretty new girl to sit next to him. Every girl in the room on the other hand glared at Sakura.

She walked slowly to her seat and was greeted by a silent boy staring out the window. She set her stuff down and Kakashi began the lesson.

She was wearing the school uniform which consisted of a white polo shirt and a dark green skirt with gold trim. Black shoes as well. They didn't wear ties so she had the top two buttons undone. Sasuke was wearing at white polo shirt as well and with out the tie. Same as Sakura, the top buttons weren't done. He had dark green pants and black shoes.

Sasuke went back to entertaining himself with the sakuras down below. Everything seemed to go slowly as lunch came. The bell rang and everyone headed out for the courtyard.

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On the rooftops of Leaf Valley Academy, two boys leaned on the railing looking over the schools enormous courtyard. The sun shone down on everything on the roof including the two who were discussing how to get to Sakura.

"Buddy, she's hot." Naruto suddenly said while looking down at the pink-haired girl. Hearing this, Sasuke smacked Naruto on the back of the head. "Ow! What--"

"Stay on task idiot. We still have a mission to do remember?" Naruto was Sasuke's sidekick per say. He didn't really always join Sasuke during missions but he was always there. A fellow assassin if you may.

"Yeah yeah, I know. But why do you have to smack so freaking hard!" Still rubbing the back of his head, Naruto scanned the courtyard below and saw Hinata, his childhood friend.

"How are we going to do this," Sasuke started. "I mean, to protect her, we have to get her to trust us but without spilling the beans." He began to think of some solutions. "We'll follow her around, maybe that'll work. No, never mind. For this mission I don't want to be a stalker."

Naruto wasn't really paying attention. Still looking at Hinata, he began to remember things from the past. How they would play together in the park and when they would go to each other's houses for dinner. Those were the days.

Naruto was snapped out of his daydream when Sasuke hit him on the head again. "Oy! It got hit there already! You don't need to get hit there again." He was getting teary-eyed. "You didn't hear a word I said," stated Sasuke.

All Naruto could do was blush. "Eh! No way man, I heard," Naruto was stuck. "Uh, you have to," '_Think of something quick! Come on!' _"Become friends with Sakura?"

"No! Wrong." Sasuke grinned. _'Stupid, probably looking at her again._ "That's not it at all! Where did you get that? And why would I do that, I hate stuff like that."

Naruto found the jackpot. Smirking inwardly, "Oy, it's a good plan though. I mean, I'm not the one who sits beside her. And besides I can't do anything today, I have to do some grocery shopping. I'm running out of ramen." With that Naruto sped out of reach from Sasuke. He knew Sasuke didn't want to do it but he really felt that he would become a walking parrot around Sakura and they really needed to do the mission as soon as possible.

"Naruto! That's not fair man! Get back here! I can't do that!" Sasuke understood very well that he had to do the mission right away but if he did this, it would ruin his reputation. _'I'm going to strangle you Naruto.' _The bell rang and off they went to there classes.

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Sitting back down in there seats, Sasuke was thinking of how to start a conversation. _'Man Naruto! I really hate you for this. I don't talk to girls! That's not my thing.' _Suddenly, the doors slid open and Sakura emerged along with Hinata. _'Damn, here she comes.' _

Setting down her books, she decided to start a conversation. "Hey, I didn't see you at all during lunch," she began. "I mean, everyone usually eats in the courtyard. I was just thinking where you would go." All she got for an answer was "Aa…"

Sasuke really didn't want to talk to her. She was just the target of the mission, nothing more. He just had to say something to prove that he can be talked to. "Uh, never mind that. Why did you suddenly transfer here?" _'That wasn't too hard. Just hope no one heard me.'_

Sakura lit up. She smiled suddenly. At least she had someone to talk to in class. But then, she suddenly frowned. "My-my parents died in a car crash a few weeks ago and my aunt lives near this school so," now she was looking down at her fingers which were in her lap.

'_Damn, not that face.' _ Sasuke thought. _'Think of something else Uchiha!'_ "Oh, uh w-what about," _'Damn, what should I say. I can't get her to smile again.' _"My parent's left me when I was younger. I just thought that would make you feel better."

She looked up at him and smiled a little bit. "Really? What happened?" _'Hinata was wrong, he's not that cold-hearted.' _"Well, I don't really know the reason why but all I know is that my brother's an ass." Sasuke looked down trying to control his rage. His brother left the Uchiha's when he was about Sasuke's age right now. He took half the fortune and flew off somewhere.

"I didn't know that," Sakura whispered. "I'm sorry that your parent's had to go."

'_This should give me a good chance of being trusted by her.'_

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Sakura was walking back home in the sunset's glow.

"He's kinda cute. I mean yeah he doesn't really seem like he wants to talk much but he's cute." She thought to herself out loud. "At least I got through my first day."

"What I don't understand is how people would see him as cold-hearted. Hmm," She dropped her book by accident and went to pick it up, but another pair of hands beat her to it. "Hello again, Sakura. Clumsy I see." She looked up and saw two jet black eyes. Their faces were just a few inches apart, making Sakura blush madly.

As they got up, she looked away trying to hide the blush. _'Whoa, that was really close.' _she thought shaking the blush off.

"Here, it's your book right?" He handed her the book and continued to walk with her.

They started to talk about various things; from sports to students at school. They walked through a beautiful boulevard with sakura trees on each side of the road and could be seen as far as the eye could see.

"Wow," Sakura whispered as she caught a Sakura petal in her hand. "I've never seen this boulevard before. Why are we here?" She questioned the Uchiha. He was looking at here again. The scenery made her look even more beautiful.

"This is a short cut to the place you told me about; your apartment. I just thought you would like to see it." He said, turning and continuing to walk.

Around the corner, the school bully Abumi was waiting. A few of his buddies were with him making a total of four. They heard of the new girl in school and it was sort of their job to pick on new kids.

When Sasuke and Sakura turned the corner, the guys ambushed them. "Hey beautiful. Why are you hanging around with this low life?" All the men looked at her as if they could eat her up right there. Sasuke was getting pissed, but he was to late to act. Sakura was the first one to say something.

"Oh really? Low life huh. He's actually really nice. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys were lower than he was." She was right up to Abumi's face and didn't have an ounce of fear in her. _'Idiots, more of these worthless bullies. Man when will they give up? I keep moving but there are always some in every school.'_

"Oh feisty aren't we? Heh now I really wanna get you for that one." Sakura could tell he was toying with her. This really pissed her off.

Sasuke was still behind her looking at the scene. _'What the hell is she doing? These idiots won't go down with just that. I do admit she's tough though.' _

"You really are an ass. Jeez there has to be at least one total moron in every school huh?" With that, she slapped him across the face and kicked his shin. Watching him fall down to the ground whining, she smirked. "Stupid, just don't mess with me. I'm not like any other girl." _'That's for sure.' _ Sasuke thought to himself.

Sasuke saw the other three walks towards her. "Back off. You want that same thing to happen to you guys? I'd gladly do the honours." Sasuke rolled up his sleeves. The other guys just ran for it leaving their leader. "What the hell? What wimps. They even leave you, idiot." He shot that comment at Abumi on the floor and continued to walk with Sakura.

"Wow, you're one crazy ass girl." Sasuke said with amazement.

Sakura giggled. "What…I didn't think you were like the other guys; looking at me and seeing only the girl on the outside." Sasuke tried not to think of her beauty at the moment but couldn't help it.

Her hair was a few inches past shoulder length, a slender body, and she was tough. She didn't fawn over him either. That's a totally different girl from all the others at Leaf Valley.

"This is it. I decided to live in my own apartment. At least it's not too shabby." There was a hotel-like apartment before them. _'At least she knows how to live in style.' _"Well, thank you for walking me home. I appreciate it." She smiled once more before she walked into the building. "You're welcome," he whispered. _'Boy, this is going to be one hell of a mission.'_

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Preview for Chapter 2:

'_Damn! Why is she at this party? I can't walk around with her here! She's going to see me.' _Sasuke was faking to be one of the men who owned companies around Tokyo, but he couldn't do it while Sakura was there. If she saw him, he's toast.

'_Stupid! This is just great! I better find that guy fast before she spots me.' _He spotted the man in the halls and took two drinks off the tray of the butler there. _'Perfect. I'll just ask him to come out onto the balcony with me. Then it's all over and I can get back before something really wrong happens.' _ Sasuke walked swiftly and got a conversation starting with the man clad in a white suit.

Little did he know, Orichimaru's spy Kabuto was just around the corner and was watching Sakura's every move.

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REVIEWS PLEASE! First fanfic. Hope you like it. I should be able to put up new chapters every week. That's my goal anyway.

- --writingzeaL


	2. Things Are Too Close for Comfort

**Chapter 2: Things Are Too Close for Comfort**.

It was early Tuesday morning when Sakura had gotten out of bed. Ruffled hair and droopy eyelids, Sakura slammed her alarm clock quiet and walked to the door to get her mail. She was a pretty tidy person so she didn't trip over anything on her way to her door.

Picking up and scanning her mail, she noticed an envelope with a fancy red seal on it. To her surprise it was an invitation to a company anniversary, one very close to her family's business too. She thought she had made it clear that she didn't want to do anything with the family business. Passing it down to one of the butlers or something was what she suggested.

She put on her uniform and grabbed the lunch she made the day before and dashed out the door. When she turned the corner she bumped into something really hard. Before she fell, two strong arms had caught her just in time. Opening her tightly shuteyes, yet again, she was staring into pure black eyes.

"Oh, hi Sakura. I was about to get you but I see," he stood them both up. "you already beat me to it." Sasuke smirked mischievously as he got her to blush again. _'Ha, I got her again. She's cute when she blushes.'_

'_Why is he here? He didn't tell my anything yesterday about picking me up.' _Sakura's back was facing Sasuke in an attempt to calm herself down and wipe the blush off her face.

Sasuke didn't know why she was facing away from him. Was she mad? All he needed to do was pick her up since she didn't have any supervision on the way to school. He tapped her shoulder lightly, "Are you okay? I just came to pick you up; thought you needed some company, on the way to school I mean."

She turned around with a bright smile on her face. "Thanks Sasuke but really, I don't think I need a bodyguard. But you're here so might as well go to school together huh?" With that she walked past him towards the big glass doors that lead outside.

Another beautiful October morning and everything was peaceful. The apartment she lived in wasn't on a busy street so all that could be heard were birds chirping and the gust of wind coming from every direction.

They began to walk on the same boulevard as the day before. _'Ah, she remembered this place,' _he thought with his hands stuffed into his pockets and looking up at the sakura trees. _'I love it here. It's so peaceful, away from all of the noise and trouble.' _

He was snapped back to reality as he saw Sakura shiver. He noticed that she didn't bring a jacket. _'Probably thought it was hot today. Hmm,' _Sasuke slipped his black school jacket off and draped it over Sakura's shoulders.

'_Oh my gosh, it's so cold. I can't believe I forgot my jacket today. I should've checked the weather or som--' _Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden warmth around her shoulders. "Huh?" She looked down at her shoulders and saw a black jacket. Her gaze fell upon the black-haired boy who had his hands stuffed into his pockets.

'_Did he just…' _she caught up to him and said, "Thank you," in a very soft voice. Sasuke just gave a small smile, nodding as if telling her, "You're welcome."

Sakura began to blush again at the sudden gesture. She suddenly became very interested in the sakura petals the floated gently down from the trees. She sighed a little bit, "Things couldn't get any better."

* * *

The school days went on normally. Sasuke picking Sakura up for school, him running away from his fan girls when they see him, Naruto beating his classmates in poker, yeah, that's how things went. Sakura also has her own little fan club as well. She made multiple attempts to get away but none of them really worked.

Thus Saturday came quickly as Kakashi had asked Sasuke to get a good look into the party that was happening on Sunday. He said there was a man there that had something to do with the sudden deaths of Sakura's parents. He had to go undercover though, so he pretended to be a business owner.

He dressed up in a slick black suit. His hair was left the same though since no one knew him. He put a pair of sunglasses on so that he could hide a bit of his identity and marched out into his convertible. All of this was provided by Kakashi but how Sasuke wished he could keep the car. He was really getting tired of walking all the time.

He drove to the party and parked his car a few blocks away. Watching until not many people were around, he got out of his car and walked towards the two guards guarding the gates.

"Hello Sir, may we see your invitation please?" One of the two large men asked. Sasuke got the fake invitation that Kakashi had given him. "Very well Sir, please come in and enjoy yourself." Sasuke walked speedily, headed for the front doors of a gorgeous mansion.

"Great, now I have to find a stupid moron who happens to have known something about a murder of two rich people. Yeah this is going to be very easy, seeing as all of these asses are rich and greedy for money." Sasuke mumbled to himself with sarcasm.

He took out a photo of a man with a black beard and slick black hair accompanied by two large Men in Black type guys; clothed in black suits and sunglasses, the whole ensemble.

"It says he'll be wearing a white suit today. That's a good start, no one is wearing white today." He soon regretted what he said as soon as he got into the building. Almost every sophisticated looking man was wearing something that looked white. It was either beige, tan, or plain white.

Sasuke made a mental note, _'Kill Kakashi and Naruto. Kakashi's really making my job hell, and when I'm in a situation like this, it just reminds me that Naruto's a moron.' _His eyebrow twitched slightly in annoyance. "Let the hunt begin.

* * *

Sakura had just arrived at the party with a beautiful white dress that showed off her slender curves. She came in her limousine accompanied by her family butler, Wilson.

"Um, Wil? I'm going to go in now, so meet you there." She smiled at the guards and headed into the mansion.

She saw so many people that it almost made her dizzy. She stood there for a while scanning the area. She still had to wait for Wilson after all.

From a far distance, she was being watched by a pair of sly eyes. Out of habit, he pushed his glasses up with his middle and index fingers. "Orochimaru," he spoke into his collar which a microphone was conveniently put there. "She's here."

"Good, keep an eye on her and don't let her see you." Was all Orochimaru said back to him through his headphones. "Roger."

Kabuto, Orochimaru's sidekick, understood perfectly but need to go up to her. That was the only way to get some information. _'Sorry Sir, but I need to do this for you. Look at the bright side, at least I'm making things easier.' _

When he was about to step out to greet her, he spotted someone he was warned about. Black hair, black eyes, cold face, yes it was him. Uchiha Sasuke. Why was he there? Orochimaru had told him to watch out because he was an assassin. _'But he was merely a high school student, why would he be in a party like this? I've never heard of any family business with the name Uchiha.'_

He withdrew from his plan and decided to follow orders. All of his plans were stopped as soon as he saw the Uchiha. For all he knew, Uchiha could have his whole profile with him. He couldn't' risk things this early in the battle plan just yet.

* * *

Sasuke was up to his fourteenth man with a white suit and he still didn't find him. _'Stupid descriptions! I hate this!' _He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. This was taking way to long.

Then suddenly, the front doors opened and a beautiful woman in a white dress emerged from it. _'S-Sakura?' _The pink hair was very visible against the white dress and Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes. _'Wow, that's a nice dress, looks good on her too. Wait! What am I thinking? If she sees me here I'm never going to here the end of her questions.' _Sasuke suddenly let his clenched fist loose and ducked a little bit so he wouldn't be seen.

'_Damn! Why is she at this party? I can't walk around with her here! She's going to see me.' _Sasuke was faking to be one of the men who owned a company in Tokyo, but he couldn't't do it while Sakura was there. If she saw him, he would be toast.

'_Stupid! This is just great! I better find that guy fast before she spots me.' _He spotted the man he was looking for in the halls and took two drinks off the tray of the butler there. _'Perfect. I'll just ask him to come out onto the balcony with me. Then it's all over and I can get back before something really wrong happens.' _Sasuke walked swiftly and got a conversation starting with the man clad in a white suit.

Little did he know, Orochimaru's spy Kabuto was just around the corner and was watching his every move.

* * *

Wil had finally made it back and was standing right beside Sakura. "Miss, we need to find your aunt, she should be here somewhere. I'm pretty sure she would be near the table with all the sake." Wil smirked a little bit. He had known her aunt since a few years back and he still remembered her sake cravings.

"Oh speak of the devil," Wil said as he spotted Tsunade, Sakura's aunt.

"Sakura! Oh my gosh, how you've grown!" Tsunade came and hugged Sakura tightly. "You too old geezer, you've aged." Tsunade let go of Sakura and flicked a little bit of Wil's white hairs.

'_Oh my gosh, hahah! Wil must really hate that, just seeing his face is enough.' _Sakura tried to suppress a laugh. Wil's face was priceless. He didn't like being called old very often.

Thinking that Wil had had enough torture, Sakura intervened. "Um, yeah auntie, maybe we should mingle a little bit, you know introduce me to some of your business partners." Sakura grabbed her aunt's arm and dragged her into the crowd.

Tsunade continued to walk along side her and said aloud, "Oh okay darling, let's do this thing!" Sakura stopped for a moment and giggled, _'Boy, she's drunk.'_ When she turned around again, a man in a black suit sped up the grand staircase.

'_What? Was that Sasuke?But, how,'_ her thoughts were interrupted when Tsunade stopped. Tsunade had spotted one of her old friends and stopped to introduce Sakura. Sakura looked up at the staircase again looking for the man seemingly to be Sasuke. _'Must've been my imagination I guess. I mean, why would he be at a party like this? His parents aren't even in Tokyo. But still, he looked oddly familiar.'_

* * *

On the balcony, Sasuke had gotten the man into a deep conversation. On the roof though, Kabuto was listening intently.

"So, I see you are a very young man. How old are you?" The man in the white suit began. "Oh I'm uh, twenty-three. I just finished my business course so my dad put me into his company." Sasuke answered. "Oh by the way, what was your name again?"

"Oh yes, we forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is Mr. Kurogashi. I Own the Kuro Toy Company. And you?" _'Wow a toy company. Pfft. What would this guy know about a murder?'_

"My name is," Sasuke paused for a moment trying to think of a name. "well, my name is quite long so just call me," _'Think hard Uchiha! Fast! He's getting onto you.'_ "Takehane. My father's company is uh," Before Sasuke could say anything, he noticed someone outside, watching, listening. _'Damn it, what the hell is this guy doing here? Is he drunk or something? It's a party and he's on the roof.' _Sasuke didn't really like having someone listening so he thought of something else.

"Oh uh isn't it cold out here? Why don't we go back inside?" Sasuke suggested as they walked back into the mansion.

'_So, Uchiha Sasuke, what are you trying to find out hmm? This could be fun, let's listen in now shall we?' _Kabuto jumped back in through the window that he came out of and ran downstairs.

* * *

Back downstairs, Sakura was getting a bit anxious. She really wanted to find out who that was. Besides, that was the only form or entertainment she had at the time, all the people were doing were talking about money.

"Um, auntie, I'm going to use the washroom okay? Be right back." With that she headed up the stairs. _'Time to find out who our mystery black suited man is.'_

Kabuto was coming down another flight of stairs when he notices Sakura from afar. "Hmm, this could be interesting. She's headed towards Uchiha and I don't think Uchiha wants to blow his cover." He said to himself and smiled evilly.

Kabuto headed for the area where Sasuke was, wanting to see what chaos would break loose when Sakura sees him.

Sakura headed up the flight of steps and was now walking down a long corridor. "Where could he be?" Suddenly she heard two men talking to each other. Before she got there though, she heard an ear piercing scream. She ran faster. When she turned the corner, she saw a man in a black suit looking over a dead body. She couldn't speak. She was too shocked.

'_Damn, who the hell threw a kunai at him? I was about to find out what happened to Sakura's parents!' _Suddenly, Sasuke heard someone gasp behind him. He was about to turn around when he heard the person say something.

"W-what happened here?" Sasuke gasped, _'That's Sakura's voice! Damn it! Not now!' _He shot up and ran in the direction he was facing, leaving Sakura to stare at his back as he disappeared from her sight. "Hey! Where are you going?" she screamed as she took a long look at the dead man on the floor. "Oh my god, I need to call aunt Tsunade but, I'm so close to figuring out who that guy is."

She spotted a man with glasses in the corner. "Um, excuse me, there's a dead man there. Please see to it that someone is notified. Thank you." After she said that, she ran after Sasuke. _'He can't have gotten far.'_

As she turned the corner, Kabuto looked over the dead man. "My, old man, what a waste it was to kill you. But hey, I can't let you spill the beans about the Harunos' deaths." With one last evil smile, Kabuto walked down the flight of steps and left the man dead on the marble floor.

* * *

"Now, where could Sakura be? She's taking quite a while to come back." It was Tsunade who suddenly spoke up out of the blue. _'Damn it Uchiha, are you done your job yet? She might find you!' _"Sorry men, I need to check up on my niece. Thank you for the talk though." She left Wil, and three other men to talk about their own subjects.

As soon as Tsunade got onto the top steps, she spotted a man dead on the ground and immediately got out of her fake drunken state. "Uchiha! This was the man, what the hell happened?" she said to herself. She started running down the hall looking for Sakura.

'_Uchiha don't screw this up! Your cover must not be blown.'_

When she turned the corner, she saw two teenagers and one obviously was her "niece." _'Okay, now that I've spotted you two, just hope nothing went wrong.'_

* * *

Both of the teenagers stopped in the middle of the hallway. Sakura bent over trying to catch her breath. "W-wait. I j-just want to know w-who you are," She said between breaths. _'Damn, I can't let her see me. Just don't turn around Uchiha. What ever you do, don't turn around. I can't blow this up now.'_

He heard her footsteps come closer. "S-Sasuke?" Sasuke jolt up a bit. _'Does she already know it's me?' _"Is it really you? What the hell are you d--" Unexpectedly, she heard someone yell her name out.

"Sakura! Oh I've found you! You took so long I thought I might just as well look for you." _'Thank god Tsunade. Great timing.' _Sasuke thought. He took a quick glance at Sakura who had her head turned towards Tsunade. _'Good, now's my chance.'_

He sprinted as quietly and as quickly as he could down the hall and out the window. He did all of this without being noticed.

"Oh, sorry auntie, I just well," she turned around to where she left Sasuke but didn't see him. _'What the hell?' _She frantically looked around trying to find the mysterious man. _'Damn I didn't even get to find out who he was.' _

"Come let's get downstairs, everyone's waiting for you." Tsunade extended her hand towards Sakura. "Okay," She took her aunt's hand and walked slowly back down to the main hall. Still, the man haunted her, she really felt like she knew him, and he was standing over the dead man. She didn't know if he was the one who killed him either.

She looked back at where she last saw the mysterious man but saw someone else. The man with the glasses she talked to before was there looking at her intently with an evil smirk on his face.

When she disappeared from his sight, Kabuto began to talk again. "Orochimaru," he began. "I can't get to her now, but I know that Uchiha didn't get any information whatsoever. I will cease for today but will try again tomorrow."

* * *

Sasuke was breathing hard just outside a window trying to get his mind together. "Phew, that was really close. Oh my god, I'm starting to hate this job." He heard his stomach grumble. "Damn and I didn't even eat yet." He sat there for a while, covered in sweat from the last encounter. "That damn Kabuto, I knew I saw him before. He's the one who killed Mr. Kurogashi, but why?" He lay his head down on the wall behind him and closed his eyes. "Now what."

* * *

Preview for Chapter 3:

Sasuke and Tsunade were sitting next to the window of a café that was just a couple blocks away from the school. They were talking about what to do next since they almost blew their cover back at the party.

"Uchiha you little ass. You almost got our cover blown. Well your cover." Tsunade stared ferociously at Sasuke. "Sorry old lady, but I really couldn't get away. Your 'niece' is really good at running." He took a sip of his coffee.

"Well of course, she plays sports, actually volleyball. Wait wait, that's not the point here." She glared at her coffee and then stared outside. "I've grown attached to the girl. I've known her since she was very young. I can't let anything happen to her." She looked back at Sasuke. "It's your job to keep her safe. I'm entrusting her to you for the time being. I need to go to Kakashi and explain this."

On the other side of the café, Sakura along with Naruto and Hinata were talking about the mysterious man at the party. Sakura took a quick glance around and saw her aunt with Sasuke. _'What the hell?'_ she said with much surprise. _'What's going on? I didn't even introduce him to my aunt yet.'_

* * *

_­_REVIEWS AGAIN PLEASE! Omg, that took long. It was so confusing. I didn't know where I was for most of it. Well I hope you guys understand it XP. Oh and thanks for the reviews, glad you guys liked the first chapter. Oh and uh, Sasuke really wasn't in two places. He was just, I duno remembering his meeting with Kakashi the day before when he killed that rich guy…yeah that's how it goes.

- --writingzeaL


	3. Suspicion

**Chapter 3: Suspicion**

Sasuke planned to pick up Sakura again so he woke up bright and early. To his surprise it was raining. "Just great, it's raining. Now I have to walk in the rain." With one last growl, Sasuke got out onto the street, dressed in full uniform and headed to Sakura's with his umbrella.

"Now, I should think of an excuse. For sure she's going to ask questions about Sunday." The splashing of puddles and his feet on the wet ground were all that could be heard. "Maybe, I should just say I went to the market to get some groceries. For all I know, she could have called my house yesterday, I don't want to risk it."

Sasuke crossed the road and was soon on the sidewalk of the well known boulevard. "God, I wonder if she's going to buy that. Better make it sound convincing then I guess. It's too late to think of something right now. I'm almost there." With one last turn, he made it to Sakura's apartment.

He sighed as he looked up at the twenty storey building. "Yup, better just go with that plan." He entered the building and went up to Sakura's suit.

He knocked quietly on an oak door waiting for a response. He wasn't given one so he spoke out loud. "Sakura?" he began. "Are you in there? It's me, Sasuke." He knocked once more and then tried the doorknob. It was open. "What? Why is it unlocked?" He took one cautious step into the darkened room.

'_God this isn't right. If she finds me she's going to yell.' _He searched for a light switch but with no success. "Sakura?" he walked flat footed so he wouldn't wake her up if she was asleep.

He found a door that was slightly open. When he entered saw a lamp that was on and a bed. His face softened as he saw a sleeping angel in the bed. _'Oh she's still asleep. That must've been one hell of a party.' _He walked into the room and knelt down beside her bed.

He stared at her peaceful face. "Beautiful," he whispered. She was on her side facing him and her mouth slightly open. She had a book in her hand. "Couldn't sleep?"

He reached over to stroke her hair. It was getting late and he had to wake her up or else they would be late for school. He lightly shook her, "Sakura, it's time to wake up. You're going to be late for school." She shifted a little bit and hummed. "Come on, wake up sleepy head."

Sasuke's hand was on her shoulder. He shook once more and unconsciously, she places her hand on his arm making Sasuke jolt. He wasn't expecting that.

"Uh, oh man this isn't working. One more time or else I'm going to pour a bucket of water on her." He pictured her reaction in his head and chuckled. "Ha, I'd get into so much trouble." He shook her one more time and to his surprise her eyes began to flutter open. "Hey, wake up we're going to be late."

It took her a while to notice who it was. She noticed her hand was on his arm and he was kneeling on the side of her bed. "What?" _'Sasuke? Why is he,' _"Sasuke?" she mumbled a little bit. "What are you doing here?"

'_Thank god she woke up.' _"I'm here to pick you pick you up." He said not taking his hand away from her warm body. Her hand was still there. "What? What time is it?" Sasuke looked at his watch and said it was half and hour before eight. "What!" she bolted out of bed and ran for the washroom.

Sasuke just stared and chuckled. "Wow, she wakes up pretty fast if school's mentioned." He got up and walked to the bathroom door. "I'll just wait for you in the living room, okay?"

He walked to the living room and lied down on the couch. He stared at the ceiling. "God, she amazing." He shut his eyes for a bit and pictured her sleeping face again.

Unnoticed, Sakura got out of the shower and got dressed. She noticed that it was very quiet. "What happened to him?" she grabbed her stuff and walked into the living room. She found him lying down on the couch. "Hmm, guess he got here pretty early." She stared down at him and didn't want to wake him.

There was only fifteen minutes left till school bell. It took them about ten minutes to walk to school. _'I'll just get my lunch ready first.'_

She went into the kitchen and started making a sandwich. When she got back he was sitting upright. "Oh you're awake already?" She headed for the door a put her shoes on. "Let's go we're going to be late."

"Yes mother." He answered, getting a playful slap on the arm.

'_I'll ask him about the party later. He seems to be a bit out of it today.'_

* * *

Lunch break came and Naruto and Sasuke were up on the rooftops yet again. This time they were eating and talking on the benches. 

"So, how was the mission you took yesterday?" said Naruto as he took a bite of some shrimp in his lunch. "It really didn't go as planned," Sasuke replied. "Really now, how so?"

"Well, Sakura was there and my target was killed before I could get anything out of him." He stuffed a beef piece into his mouth. As he expected, Naruto almost choked at the mention of Sakura. "She was there? Why? Were you caught?" Naruto questioned, taking a long drink of water.

Sasuke chuckled, "I almost got caught. It was actually really really close. She chased me. Man can she run." As he remembered that night, he smacked Naruto on the head.

"Hey! What the hell!" Naruto rubbed his head. "I didn't do anything this time!"

"It was an 'in the moment' type thing." He chuckled and ate the rest of his lunch. "Hey, I need to inform Kakashi about the mission so can you take care of Sakura today?" he inquired while packing his lunch away. "Sure buddy. You owe me though. I'm taking Hinata out today." Naruto blushed. "Wait, that didn't come out right. What I meant to say was--" he was interrupted by raven-haired boy. "Shut up. It came out perfectly. Don't deny it." He smirked at his tomato faced friend.

* * *

After school, Sakura searched for Sasuke. The bell had rung a few minutes ago so the place was crowded. When she spotted him, she ran straight for him. "Sasuke!" 

"Hey Sakura." He turned around so he was facing her. "Hinata and Naruto as me to go out with them today, wanna come?" she asked. "Well I--" he was interrupt interrupted by his cellphone.

"Hello? Oh hey. Uh yeah I think I can meet you there. Yeah be there in a couple of minutes." He flipped his cellphone shut and looked at Sakura. Hey Sakura sorry I have an important meeting with someone. I can go somewhere tomorrow if that's okay."

Sakura shook her head. "It's okay, I see you're busy. Well see you tomorrow?" he knew what she meant and agreed. "Bye."

He walked off in the direction of the nearest café.

* * *

Sasuke and Tsunade were sitting next to the window of a café that was just a couple blocks away from the school. They were talking about what to do next since they almost blew their cover back at the party. 

"Uchiha you little ass. You almost got our cover blown. Well your cover." Tsunade stared ferociously at Sasuke. "Sorry old lady, but I really couldn't get away. Your 'niece' is really good at running." He took a sip of his coffee.

"Well of course, she plays sports, actually volleyball. Wait wait, that's not the point here." She glared at her coffee and then stared outside. "I've grown attached to the girl. I've known her since she was very young. I can't let anything happen to her." She looked back at Sasuke. "It's your job to keep her safe. I'm entrusting her to you for the time being. I need to go to Kakashi and explain this."

On the other side of the café, Sakura along with Naruto and Hinata were talking about the mysterious man at the party. Sakura took a quick glance around and saw her aunt with Sasuke. _'What the hell?'_ she said with much surprise. _'What's going on? I didn't even introduce him to my aunt yet.'_

"Sakura? Are you okay?" it was Hinata who spoke up. In the middle of something, she turned her head. "Oh sorry, what?" Sakura was snapped back to reality. "You were saying something about the mysterious man looking almost like Sasuke."

"Oh well, that's what I think. He really did look like him, the hair and everything." Naruto choked and started coughing a bit. "Naruto are you okay?" both of the girls asked.

Coughing a few more times Naruto answered, "Yeah yeah I'm okay." Naruto had spotted Sasuke with Sakura's 'aunt.' _'Aw damn.'_

* * *

"_Anyway Sasuke, you promise right, to protect her? I've been doing that job for the past eighteen years, now I pass it down to you."_ Tsunade's last words were still stuck in Sasuke's head while leaving the café. He was right outside the doors now. He sighed, "Oh boy," he stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to walk, headed for home. 

Little did he know, Sakura was following him. She was actually trying to catch up to him.

Sasuke just kept walking still lost in his thoughts. He didn't notice Sakura right beside him. "So, I was meaning to ask you," Sasuke jumped at the sound of someone else so close. She was staring up at the cloudy sky. "Where were you yesterday?"

'_Crap here come the questions.' _Sasuke thought. "I was grocery shopping." He was fidgeting with some loose thread in his jacket. "Are you sure?" she eyed him carefully, trying to find something that would indicate that he was lying.

The questions continued as they walked towards Sasuke's house. The questions began to become stories about that night and how she really wanted to see that guy. "He was cute though. But I really don't now if he's trustable. I mean I saw him hovering over a dead man's body." She said looking up at the sky.

'_She thought I was cute? Wait wait, stop it Uchiha.'_ He thought still staring at the ground while they continued their walk.

As they turned the corner onto another empty street, a dark figure a few feet away from them began to speak. "So, I see you two really are inseparable. Even during out of school things too." He lifted his head and stared at them both with cold, dark, life-sucking eyes that were hidden behind a pair of glasses.

'_Crap! Not now. What the hell is he doing here! He's going to spill it,'_ Sasuke put a protective arm in front of Sakura and put on his fighting stance. "What the hell do you want?" growled Sasuke.

Kabuto chuckled, "Oh, the famous Uchiha, protecting a girl? That's amazing. But then again," he paused and stepped a few feet forward. Sakura was getting freaked out. The last time she saw this guy, he gave her that evil look and it still haunted her.

Sasuke put his whole body in front of Sakura now. Kabuto was getting too close for comfort.

Kabuto put his head down so that they couldn't see his eyes. "You are just protecting her because it's your job right? I mean, do you get paid for these things? I should consider that job, getting paid for easy stuff like this." He laughed. _'Damn I need to end this now or else I'm dead. W-what!' _Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when a kunai came charging at Sakura.

Sakura screamed as she saw the sharp weapon headed for her. She shut her eyes waiting for the worst but it never came. She cautiously opened her eyes and saw Sasuke facing her with his back to Kabuto.

His face cringed a little bit as he felt the kunai pierce into his left shoulder. _'I promised Tsunade I wouldn't let anything happen to her.' _He opened his eyes slightly and forced a smile on his face. "Are you okay?" he said softly.

Sakura just stared. His body was protectively around her, arms wrapped around her waist, his head on her shoulder trying to fight the pain. Then she heard another scream from him as Kabuto shot another kunai at his right leg. Right then and there, Sasuke collapse from the pain.

Sakura just stared in disbelief as she tried to keep him on his feet. "Sasuke! G-get up! Please." When she looked again, Kabuto was right behind Sasuke, laughing. "I'm enjoying this. It's fun seeing Uchiha fall to his knees." Then he took out the kunai from Sasuke's shoulder and pierced it into his other shoulder, twisting it a little bit.

Sasuke screamed yet again, body trembling. _'I'm not letting go of her. Not now, not ever. Keep trying asshole you're never getting her.'_

Kabuto pulled out the kunai and looked Sakura right in the eyes. "Now that I've had my fun, time for you to come with me, Ms. Haruno." He shot a hand out and grabbed Sakura's arm.

Sasuke didn't like this one bit. He grabbed Kabuto's hand and tightened his grip on it. "Don't ever touch her,"

"Ho ho! Uchiha has some fight left over." When he was about to punch Sasuke, he heard two people calling their names out. "Sakura! Is that you? What's going on?" It was Naruto who was speeding towards them along with Hinata.

"Stupid interruptions," Kabuto mumbled to himself. "I'll be back for you Haruno. Better watch your back." With that he ran, disappearing from sight.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground crying, still holding the now unconscious Uchiha in her arms. "S-Sasuke, wake up please."

"Sakura! What happened? And," Naruto gasped. "That's Sasuke! Who was that?" Naruto helped pick up Sasuke. He put Sasuke's arm around his shoulder and he grabbed onto his waist so that most of the wait was on him.

"Let me call an ambulance." Hinata was about to pull her cellphone out when Naruto intervened. "No, I can handle his wounds, whose house is the closest? Sakura?" he looked at her as if asking for permission to go to her house. She just nodded with her eyes still filled with tears.

They sped to Sakura's house as fast as they could with a bleeding, unconscious boy with them.

* * *

Since Naruto was one of the many assassins in Tokyo, he knew how to deal with injuries like the ones Sasuke had. Although, he didn't really have much of his supplies at the moment so he had to improvise. It took him about three hours to bandage Sasuke up. 

"I think he'll pull through. The wounds are pretty deep and he lost quite a bit if blood." Naruto said looking at the blood pressure meter that Sakura had in her closet. It was Wilson's although he never wanted to admit it or show it to anyone.

Sasuke was on Sakura's bed all bandaged up and sleeping peacefully. Sakura and the others took a chair each in her room and sat there, waiting for him to wake up.

"Why is he after me," she heard herself say. She was still playing that event over and over again in her head. She was that guy's target and she knew it but why, she didn't know. "It's my fault that Sasuke is in this state. He just tried to protect me."

'_Good thing we got there before Kabuto could spill anything. Or maybe she was too shocked to notice any clues.'_ Naruto thought looking at his 'partner in crime' lying peacefully. He really did hope that he would wake up soon; he didn't want to do the mission without him. It also seemed like Sakura would kill herself if he didn't wake up.

* * *

They all stayed at Sakura's house that night. Naruto stayed so he could keep an eye on her and Hinata stayed to help keep her company. It had been almost six hours and yet, Sasuke didn't even open his eyes for a second. What touched Naruto's heart most was that Sakura never left his side. 

Hinata slept on the couch while Naruto slept on the floor. Sakura on the other hand, fell asleep by Sasuke's side. She was sitting in a chair while her head was on top of her arms on the bed.

Later that night, Sasuke's eyes opened slowly. "Huh?" He found himself on a comfy bed, but had a hard time getting up. He felt all of the injuries on his body. _'Damn, it never hurt this much before. Kabuto probably put something on the dagger or something.'_ He scanned the room. His eyes fell upon a girl sitting in a chair with her head on the bed.

When his eyes began to get used to the darkness, he noticed he wasn't at home, but at Sakura's. His body softened. Then he looked over to the open door, which lead to the living room. _'Naruto,'_ indeed, he saw a blonde head sticking out from under some covers.

With all of his strength and will power, he brought himself up to a sitting position. He examined himself. There were bandages on his right leg, his right and left shoulders and to his surprise, Sakura's hand was grasping his shirt. _'Ha, I'm shirtless.' _He put his hand on hers.

'_Maybe I shouldn't wake her,'_ it was too late. That one touch broke Sakura out of sleep. She brought her head up slowly and as her eyes set upon the boy, they grew wide, seeing him awake and sitting up. "Sasuke!" she jumped and hugged him so tight he could barely breathe.

"S-Sakura, ow," he finally said and he felt his shoulders ache. When he saw her face again, there were tears. "I'm sorry," she said softly still looking at him straight in the eye. "I," she paused. "No it's my fault you got hurt. He was after me, I'm sure of that." She looked down at his shirt that was in her hands.

"No need to be sorry, I did this to myself. I could have just let him get to you now couldn't I? But I didn't do that." She brought her head up and saw a faint smile on his face.

There was silence for a moment. Sasuke soon noticed the time, it was very late. "Hey, you can sleep here now. I'll just," She grabbed his arm as he tried to get off the bed.

"You stay." She said.

"Are you sure? Where are you going to sleep?" to his surprise, she lay down on the other side of the bed, put the covers over herself and lay on her side facing away from him.

"I'm sure you don't bite," she replied.

'_Ha, I'm never going to get her let me sleep somewhere else.' _He lay down next to her and stayed there for a moment.

Sakura had just shut her eyes for a few minutes when she felt two arms wrap around her waist. "What," she was about to protest but, "Like you said, I don't bite." Sasuke didn't let go. He said it before and he meant it. He would never let go of her, not there, not ever.

'_He could never have been the mysterious man; he isn't the type to kill.' _Sakura thought before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Preview for Chapter 4: 

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes; fire was controlling his every will. Fire covered his hand but yet, he couldn't feel the burn. He looked up at the mirror before him and saw his eyes turn red.

'_What's going on? What's happening to me?'_ When he turned around, he knocked a vase over. He was amazed by what he saw. Step by step, in slow motion, he saw the vase fall. Before it fell he caught it but he still couldn't believe what he just did. That vase must've been falling at a great speed, considering how heavy it was.

He placed the vase carefully back down, hoping it wouldn't explode or do something weird. _'Okay, I can manipulate fire and I can see things before they happen,' _Sasuke stared again at himself through the mirror. _'This is some stupid dream, I just know it.'_ He half-heartedly wanted this to be a dream, half of his loved having the power.

* * *

REVIEWS. Ha, yeah can you take a wild guess at what just happened to Sasuke in the preview? It was in this chapter, not that hard to find. Heh. "Is Sasuke really out of his mind? Find out on the next episode of : The Life of an Assassin!" (oh and I forgot to edit this one. ; sorry if there's any typos or errors.) 

- --writingzeaL


	4. Fire and Eyes

**Chapter 4: Fire and Eyes**

From under covers, a blonde head popped out and groaned. Naruto got out of his bed on the floor and made his way to the washroom. Along the way he flicked the living room light on and peaked into Sakura's room to see if Sasuke had woken up yet.

Once again, Sasuke ceased to impress him with his kindness that seemed to be hidden all the time. Sasuke and Sakura were lying down together with a serene smile on each of their faces. Naruto didn't want to disturb them so he turned and left for the washroom.

When he got out, he decided to sleep a little while longer. He spotted Hinata with her covers on the floor. She shivered a little bit showing that the autumn chills were affecting her. Naruto walked over to her sleeping form and grabbed the covers from the cold floor. He placed it on her and instantly, Hinata's face lit up. Naruto just smiled and got back to his bed. _'Hinata,'_

* * *

That day at school, Sasuke could barely walk nor could he concentrate on his work. He kept thinking of how he could find Orochimaru and Kabuto so he could end all of this. He didn't like seeing Sakura cry and he wanted to prevent that from happening again. 

After class, the end of the day had come as the sun began to set early. Before he left, Kakashi had asked to have a talk with him for a few minutes. Sakura never left Sasuke's side the whole day but for this, Sasuke asked her to wait outside. She agreed but only for ten minutes.

"So, I take it you encountered a few bad things this week?" Kakashi asked, obseving all of Sasuke's injuries. Kakashi was sitting on his desk at the moment while Sasuke was standing before him.

"Well, I guess you could say it that way," Sasuke answered. "It was a just a few cuts from that idiot Kabuto and--" Sasuke was interrupted by Kakashi. "Kabuto? He cut you?" This wasn't good at all.

"Yeah, so what if he did? It's not that bad, the injuries are almost fully healed." Kakashi still had a look of worry in his eyes. Sasuke was like his son, and this new piece of information worried him.

"Are you sure you don't feel any different? Did you feel anything at all before this time, besides the pain?" Kakashi asked this question quite fast which startled Sasuke. "No," was all Sasuke had the chance to say. Kakashi was acting very on the edge that day.

"Good, just tell me when things start to get weird or if you feel anything out of the ordinary." Kakashi looked at Sasuke one last time before Sakura entered the room.

"Uh sorry but Sasuke needs to change his bandages." She looked at them both, wondering why they weren't saying anything.

"A-a…yes okay. Sasuke," Kakashi uncomfortable said. "It's time for you to go I see. I will see you guys next week then. Have a good weekend."

After the two teens left, Kakashi walked over to the window, watching them talk and laugh, having the time of their lifes. _'Sasuke, be careful. Kabuto has a record for killing anyone he gets his hands on.'_

* * *

Back over with the villains, Kabuto was in front of Orochimaru. "So, what have you got to inform me about?" Orochimaru's dark voice came from the darkness. 

"I would just like to tell you things didn't go as planned because as you may have noticed already, I don't have the girl but," Kabuto's voice was low and shallow trying to get through without getting his master mad but to no avail.

"But," Orochimarusaid rather heatedly.

Kabuto swallowed hard. _'I hope this is enough to satisfy him,' _"I got to Uchiha and right now he's very injured. That leaves the girl unprotected," Kabuto began.

"Of course that leaves her unprotected, I'm not as stupid as you may think I am." The slithery voice boomed.

"But Sir, if it makes you any happier, I had added something else to the daggers that I sliced Uchiha with. It should affect him in a matter of hours." That was all that Kabuto could say. He was too nervous to add anything else.

There was silence for a moment then a chuckled could be heard. "Ah, well, at least you said something good."

Relieved, Kabuto bowed down to his master. "I'm glad you liked it Sir." Kabuto got up and began to walk away slowly when a kunai struck him in the arm. A small yell was supressed from the man with the glasses as he pulled it out slowly.

"Ah, slow reflexes I see. Something is bothering you," Kabuto turned around; Orochimaru grabbed his throat and began to squeeze harder and harder. "Just make sure whatever's bothering you is dealt with. I don't want any failures Kabuto." He let go and left Kabuto struggling for air.

* * *

Sakura had finally gotten Sasuke to stay at her house for the night after trying to do so for almost half an hour. Sasuke was sitting on Sakura's bed at the moment waiting for the bathroom. He stared at the side table and saw a photo of Sakura and another guy. He was giving her a piggyback ride as she wrapped her hands around his neck. She seemed to be the same age as she was now but it was in the summer. Sasuke grabbed the picture and held it before him to take a closer look. The guy had bright red hair and a huge smile on his face. They seemed so happy. 

Sasuke didn't notice that Sakura had finished with the washroom and few minutes ago and was now looking over his shoulder at the picture. "Yeah, that was my ex-boyfriend. This was taken this year before I moved here. He was seriously injured when I last saw him. He was in the hospital when he died. Or that's what they told me. I couldn't say goodbye. He was in a coma when I left for Tokyo." She sat beside him and looked at the picture more carefully.

"I'm sorry," was all Sasuke could say. "I just thought you looked very happy in here. I never get to see you laugh or smile like that very often here. It's kinda nice seeing you like that." He gave the picture to her and went for the bathroom.

Sakura stared at the picture a little bit longer, and then a tear drop fell onto the glass of the frame. "I miss you, Gaara."

In the bathroom, Sasuke had just finished brushing his teeth when he noticed something different as he looked at himself in the mirror.

After he turned off the water he was going to grab a towel to wipe his hands when he noticed that the towel was on fire! "W-whoa!" he dropped the towel and went for the faucet when he noticed his hands were on fire. "What the hell!" he opened the faucet and grabbed the towel that was on fire and put it into the sink. Now that his hands had gotten wet, they weren't on fire anymore but Sasuke still kept his hands away from anything flammable.

When he snapped his fingers, his hand was on fire. When he snapped again, the fire disappeared. "Now this has to be a dream. Did I slip or fall of something?" He pinched himself and noticed that it hurt. "Yeah, maybe this is a dream that causes me to get hurt."

Now he looked into the mirror and noticed something different about his eyes. "Red?" he put his face right up to the mirror. Indeed his pupils were red with one black comma on the right and two black commas on the left. "Okay I didn't buy new contacts in the past forty-eight hours." He snapped his fingers again.

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes; he could control fire at will. Fire covered his hand but yet, he couldn't feel the burn. He looked up at the mirror before him and stared at his eyes.

"What's going on? What's happening to me?" When he turned around, he knocked a vase over. He was amazed by what he saw. Step by step, in slow motion, he saw the vase fall. Before it fell he caught it but he still couldn't believe what he just did. That vase must've been falling at a great speed, considering how heavy it was.

He placed the vase carefully back down, hoping it wouldn't explode or do something weird. "Okay, I can manipulate fire and I can see things before they happen,"Sasuke stared again at himself through the mirror. "This is some stupid dream, I just know it."

Back in Sakura's room, Sakura could hear a few screams from Sasuke and thought he had just put too much hot water on but then he started to scream a bit more. She was getting worried so she put the picture she was holding back onto the side table and headed for the bathroom.

She knocked on the door. "Sasuke? Are you alright in there? You're scaring me."

Sasuke jumped. "Oh crap, I can't let her know about this," he whispered to himself.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." _'Oh shit.' _"Um, n-nothing Sakura, I just uh," he tried to find a way to stop his eyes from turning red on and off. "The faucet doesn't want to listen to me. Sometimes it goes hot sometimes it goes cold." He shut his eyes hard and then opened them again continuously while he checked in the mirror if they were still red or not.

"Is that so? Well maybe it's broken or a screw is loose or something. Wait let me see," she wiggled the doorknob. _'No no no no.' _Sasuke immediately grabbed the doorknob to stop it from moving. "Hey? The door's locked. I thought the lock was broken?"

"Uh, n-no! I guess I fixed it." He was frantically trying to keep the door shut. "I'll come out soon don't worry. You can check on it later." "Okay then." He placed his ear onto the door and heard footsteps fade.

'_Oh my god, that was too close.' _He paced in the bathroom trying to figure out a way to control his new found 'abilities.'

Sakura walked back into her bedroom and got into bed. She got her book out and began to read. The only light in the room was her bedside lamp. Sasuke soon walked in with his head down and went to the other side of the bed. He didn't once look at Sakura, afraid that she'll see his eyes.

"Sasuke are you okay?" Sakura said tapping him on the shoulder, as he lay down facing away from her. "Uh yeah, don't worry I'm just really tired. Goodnight."

She placed her book on the bedside table, turned off the light and went up to Sasuke, not satisfied with his answer. "Hey, you're not okay I can tell." She was about to turn him over when he suddenly turned around and turned her around in the process, making them both face the window. Sakura gave a small yelp during the procedure.

Sasuke was now staring at the back of Sakura's head. _'Okay, if I keep her down maybe she woke turn around.' _Like he did the night before, he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her close. This way he couldn't turn around. _'Perfect.' _"Go to sleep Sakura, like I said I'm fine."

Sakura soon gave up and fell asleep. Although this time, his hands seemed a bit more on the warmer side than before.

* * *

The next morning, Sasuke was the first one to wake up. Since she let him stay at her house again, he decided to make breakfast, even though he barely knew how to cook. He got out of bed slowly as to not wake up the girl and headed towards the bathroom. 

When he remembered the night before, he anxiously looked at his eyes again through the mirror. He sighed when he saw that they were pure black again. "Okay, if that's gone maybe," Sasuke took a long glance at his hands. He snapped his fingers and, "Aw man!" they lit on fire just like the day before. "Well, let's look on the bright side, maybe it'll make cooking easier."

* * *

Since it was a Saturday, Sasuke couldn't get to Kakashi. He really didn't know where the guy went on the weekends but he was definitely not at headquarters. Sasuke decided to tell Naruto about it. It's really risky for him to go outside with Sakura; his eyes could go off at any moment. 

Right now, Sasuke was on the busy streets off Tokyo heading for Naruto's. He had made breakfast for Sakura but left it on the table with a note saying that he had something important to do.

He knocked on Naruto's door. Naruto lived in a small house about four blocks away from school and he lived alone. Sasuke had called him that morning telling him he needed to go there fast and he panicked. Sasuke just laughed, Naruto was always there for him but hey, he was his best friend.

Naruto opened the door and screamed, "Mr. Uchiha! Man you're giving me a heart attack. Why did you need to see me so fast?" Sasuke then looked Naruto right in the eye. "Whoa...sweet! you got new contacts?" Sasuke's eyebrows twitched as he pushed Naruto into the house and shut the door.

"No idiot, since when did I need glasses?" Then Sasuke snapped his fingers. His hand lit on fire making Naruto scream. "What the hell!--" Before he could complain even more, he tripped and fell backwards.

Turning off the fire, Sasuke just stared at him with his red eyes. "See? That's why. I just need a place to stay until I find out where Kakashi is or when I get to talk to him. Do we have a deal?" Naruto thought for a moment and was about to disapprove when Sasuke snapped his fingers again and looked at Naruto. He just swallowed hard and nodded nervously.

* * *

Sakura was out with Hinata and was now sitting in the mall food court. They had gone shopping and window shopping and finally got to the topic 'boyfriend' and decided to take a break. 

"So, you had a boyfriend before?" Hinata asked taking a sip of her vanilla milkshake. "What was he like?"

Sakura also had a milkshake too but it was strawberry. "His name was Gaara. I don't know he was a sweet guy. The kind of guy that makes you laugh or comforts you when you cry." Sakura said stirring her strawberry shake with her straw. She was staring at the drink, lost in the swirls and memories.

"_Hmm, this looks good." Gaara grabbed Sakura's strawberry milkshake and took a sip. "Yeah I was right, good thing too cause I paid for it." He chuckled and took a glance at Sakura who was glaring at him with her hands on her hips. "Give it back Gaara!" she dove for it but he just stepped away. She laughed, "Oh so that's how it's going to be huh?" then she got up and began to chase him through the field._

_They were in Sakura's huge backyard on a hot summer day. Sakura and Gaara had just gotten back from the mall with two milkshakes._

_Gaara landed on his back with Sakura on top of him. "Ha! Caught you!" By now she had already forgotten about the milkshake. She looked down at Gaara with a loving smile. "Love you," Gaara gave her a quick peck on the lips and got them both up. "Good thing this thing had a lid or else I'd have to give up my chocolate milkshake." He said taking another sip of the strawberry shake._

"_Hey!" she playfully slapped him and grabbed her shake back. "Ha! You're too slow bet you can't get it back." She smirked and ran for it. They both had the time of their lives._

"Sakura! Sakura?" Hinata was now yelling, trying to get Sakura out of her blank state. "Oh, hmm? Sorry." She took her strawberry milkshake and drank from it. _'Gaara…'_

* * *

Both Naruto and Sasuke walked to headquarters and went up to head office. They had to check it Kakashi was there and fast. They didn't know what the downfalls were in having powers. As they stepped into a dark office, Kakashi's head shot up front the book he was reading. 

"Oh hello Sasuke, Naruto." He nodded indicating that they could come in. "What brings you here? I'm not going to give any of you assignments today. It seems like the only major mission is the 'Sakura Haruno' one." Kakashi put his little book down and folding his hands on his desk.

"Well, Kakashi," Naruto began. He didn't know how to say it or knew exactly what happened. He looked anxiously at Sasuke who just sighed and decided to just show him.

Sasuke snapped his fingers and his hand lit on fire. He didn't stop there though. During the long hours of thinking at Naruto's, Sasuke learned how to compress the fire and make a fire ball. He began to tossing it back and forth between his hands like a baseball.

Kakashi was amazed. But again, this wasn't normal. Having powers was against logic the last time he heard of it. "How," Kakashi immediately remembered Kabuto. "Is this the result of what happened a few days ago?" Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded simultaneously. Kakashi got side tracked still staring at the ball of fire in Sasuke's right hand. "Does it hurt?"

"Kakashi!" the two boys yelled. "Okay okay, sorry just wondering." Kakashi mumbled. "Well at least you can control it. Was there another symptom?" he inquired.

Then Sasuke looked at Kakshi in the eye and turned his eyes red. He also learned how to control his eyes a little bit yet sometimes they go on and off by themselves. Kakashi didn't seem to understand what it was so Naruto grabbed a kunai and threw it at Sasuke who was only about ten feet away from him.

Sasuke's finger was twirling the kunai around by the hole at the end of it. He was leisurely sitting there with one elbow propped up in the arm rest and his cheek resting on his fist.

"Well, now that I've seen uh your, abilities, what would you suggest we do?" he aimed the question at Sasuke. "I don't really know. That's why I came here."

"I guess the only thing we can do now is get a blood sample and see what caused this." Kakashi lead Sasuke to the lab along with Naruto.

'_Ha, so he got the sharingan. That chemical solution that Kabuto put onto the knife has many different side effects and Sasuke got the same one that I got…'_ Kakashi said taking off the white bandana that covered his left eye. There was a scar and his pupil was red three black stripes instead of commas.

'_He only has three commas in total. I have stripes. Ha guess he still doesn't have much control over them yet. He'll soon get full control soon. But he has them on both pupils; I only have it on one. He also has that additional fire power. I wonder how that happened.'_

* * *

When Sakura got home, Sasuke was on the couch watching television, particularly sports. The place was nice and tidy. 

"Hey stranger, might I ask where you were this morning?" she asked dropping her bags and hanging her jacket up in the closet. She walked up and leaned over the back of the couch next to Sasuke's head.

"Oh, nowhere really. I just had to go to the doctors see." He pointed to his left arm where the doctor poked the needed. "Just a blood test though."

"Okay then, oh and thanks for breakfast. I didn't know you knew how to cook." She headed into her room to change.

"I don't," he chuckled. "Beginners luck." He looked back as she emerged from her bedroom. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing sweats with a tank top. He got up and walked slowly towards her.

She turned around carrying a bag of chips and a drink. When she was headed to the couch, she slipped. Sasuke heard her scream and saw her falling. He activated his eyes and saw her fall slow motion. He dashed right to her but just barely made it. The drink spilled, the chips fell, but he caught her. Well, he was on his back with her on top of him. He laughed, "Caught you!" he smirked.

Then a flash back of Gaara came to her mind. "Ha, yeah. Sorry about that." She said sadly. She sat up along with him. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he looked at her with concern. They were still sitting on the floor. He switched his eyes back to black.

"No I'm not hurt it's just," she looked up at him with water eyes. "You remind me so much of Gaara." She couldn't take it. She hugged him tight and cried into his chest. "I miss him so much Sasuke." All Sasuke could do was hug her back, trying to comfort her. _'Gaara huh, boy what a lucky guy he was.'_

* * *

Preview for Chapter 5: 

"I told you that you couldn't ever touch her!" Sasuke's eyes flared red. He couldn't take it anymore. Sakura lay unconscious on the cold cement floor after being punched in the stomach by Kabuto.

Sasuke got there just in time. Sakura was walking in the park with Hinata after visiting Naruto. Sasuke just went to headquarters to get his blood test results and find out what his powers were going to do to him. He took the short cut through the boulevard and saw Kabuto attacking Hinata and Sakura.

"You better stay away from her! Or else," he ignited his hands and created two fireballs. "You'll turn into toast."

* * *

HA! That one took long! But I did it in the same say I wrote the third chapter wow! New record for me. All of my chapters are at least 7 pages long so far. And I'm planning to keep it at that rate. 

REVIEW PLEASE. Thanks for all the feed back up till now too. )

- --writingzeaL


	5. When You Play with Fire, You Get Burnt

**Chapter 5: When You Play with Fire, You Get Burnt**

It was a frigid December morning in Tokyo and the students of Leaf Valley Academy were enjoying their winter break. It was without a doubt going to be a white Christmas that year for the snow had come down by the truck loads the night before. Every building, every car, ever street was covered in white fluffy snow and it still didn't stop coming down.

It had already been about two weeks since Sasuke had gotten his powers. He never discontinue his personal experiments of using his new powers. He had gotten used to playing around with fire and his eyes were starting to obey him but then again, you never know.

Right now, he was walking to headquarters to get his blood test results. He didn't know why there hadn't been any attacks the past couple weeks and it began to trouble him. He had always been on high alert, waiting for something to happen but nothing ever did. It was always just a regular day with nothing out of the ordinary.

He walked passed a snow-covered park with many children playing with the fresh snow. A few kids were making a snow man that reached about five feet high and another group of kids were having a snowball fight.

Sasuke was passing by when a snowball hit him on the back of the head. He stopped in his tracks and turned around to see a little boy with a huge fat grin plastered on his face. "Hey Sasuke! I don't see you very often anymore. At school I always look for you but you're never there anymore. Maybe this could be payback." The boy threw another snowball at Sasuke but this time Sasuke was ready.

This boy was Naruto's cousin, Konohamaru. He was a pest of a kid, even for Naruto but nevertheless, Naruto treated him like a kid brother. He also went to Leaf Academy but in the lower grades since he was only eight.

Sasuke dashed towards him, dodging the snowball that was thrown at him. He made sure not to hurt the kid, not very good for little kids to watch, and adults were there too. He dove for Konohamaru but, to his surprise, he missed, landing in a big pile of snow.

"Ha! You missed Sasuke!" Konohamaru jumped onto Sasuke's back. "I'm too fast for you aren't I?" the little boy chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck. Sasuke got up, giving him a piggyback right.

"You know what kid?" Sasuke asked getting up and looking back at him. "What's that?"

Out of nowhere, snow hit Konohamaru's face. "Heh, that's what kid." Konohamaru jumped off of Sasuke's back and wiped his face. "Oh you're getting it this time Sasuke!" he began to chase Sasuke with his friends too. They were laughing, including Sasuke.

Sakura and Hinata were walking through the park, heading for Naruto's house, when they saw a whole bunch of kids playing with the snow. "Aw look, they're so cute!" Hinata pointed out a few kids having a snowball fight with a bigger guy. "Who's that they're with?" Hinata asked.

As they got closer, they noticed that the kids were looking for the guy. "Hey miss, did you see a guy just a bit taller than you with a dark blue jacket around here?" Konohamaru asked Hinata. "Konohamaru, what are you up to now. Don't go picking fights with other people."

"No it's just that--" Konohamaru was interrupted by a snowball that missed him by just a little bit. "There he is charge!" Konohamaru ordered his 'soldiers' and charged at Sasuke who popped out from behind a tree.

"Sasuke?" Hinata said with disbelief. Sakura was just as surprised as Hinata was to see Sasuke playing with a bunch of little kids, let alone having a smiling face and laughing.

Sasuke still didn't notice that Sakura was there or Hinata. He was about to run for it when he slipped and Konohamaru and his friends jumped on Sasuke. "Argh, you guys got me." Sasuke said getting up onto his feet with like all the kids clinging on to him.

He was looking down at all the kids. "Ha you guys look tired. Was it that hard to get me?" Now it was only Konohamaru on his back. "Are you kidding? That was great!" all the kids said. Sasuke chuckled, "Hey okay I need to get going now. I have something to go to."

"Aw!" all the kids whined. "Why do you have to go already Sasuke!" he chuckled again. "Well I do have something to do. I'll see if I can come back tomorrow okay?"

Sakura and Hinata were still watching. All the kids seemed so attached to Sasuke, it was like he was the dad of the bunch.

"Aw, that's so cute. Sasuke was never like this before, what happened?" Hinata snapped Sakura out of her trance. She was smiling sweetly at the group. He was so kind and gentle. "Ha, yeah Sasuke does seem kinder doesn't he?" _'That's so cute. He suits the part as a father.'_

Back to Sasuke and the kids. He just put Konohamaru down and bade farewell to all the kids. When he looked up, he saw Sakura and Hinata. "Oh hey, how long have you guys been standing there?" he said stuffing his cold hands into his pockets.

"Long enough. You were so cute though we didn't want to interrupt. The kids seemed to be having fun too." Sakura said. Sasuke blushed, _'Yeah, me cute, right._

"Anyway, we're headed for Naruto's house, wanna come?" it was Hinata who asked him. "Yeah, I think it would be nice if all of us went out today it seems nice." Sakura added.

"Uh, yeah sure but do you mind if I do something first? It won't take that long. Meet you back here in an hour?" Sasuke did want to have a break. "Sure, we'll just get Naruto first. See you later!"

Then they all went their separate ways.

* * *

Sakura and Hinata were walking back to the park after asking Naruto if he wanted to go out that day. Naruto unfortunately got sick so he couldn't go out. Now both of the girls were heading towards the park while talking.

"Yeah, some guy is after me but I'm not sure why," Sakura continued. "I mean, he hasn't showed up for a few weeks but I'm still scared. He's really creepy trust me."

The conversation started when Hinata asked about the mysterious man. This happened quite a while ago but she never really got a straight answer from Sakura. But sooner or later during the conversation, it switched to the guy that was after her.

"Well, maybe he gave up. It has been a long time and he hasn't showed up whatsoever?" They now entered the park which was now a bit empty.

"I don't really know. But lately, Sasuke's been acting really weird, like he's on edge. I'm happy to see he was a bit relaxed today with the kids." Only the crunching of their feet could be heard, echoing.

They stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a voice. "You think I'm creepy huh?" Then when they turned around, there standing a about fifteen feet away was the pestering four-eyes, Kabuto.

"I'll show you the meaning of creepy." He took a step forward. "But, haven't you noticed that the hard headed boy you're always with hasn't been around you lately?" he took another step again. "He always avoids spending time with you." Another step, "You're just a job, nothing more to him. He's doing this and is getting paid." He laughed. He was now ten feet away. The girls were frozen but Sakura was thinking and taking in all of the information.

"What the hell are you talking about," she protested. "What job? He's just a normal guy."

"Oh, my dear, he's no more normal than you are. You have something that my master wants. He says you have something that can grant him immortality and release his 'precious' one. I am his right hand man but I still don't understand him. But I can tell you this," he was now five feet away. "He does not care for anything, nor is he a person you could call jolly," he started. "He's a ruthless killer. I'm glad I'm not in your place." He dashed towards the two girls.

* * *

"_As far as we know, it won't do any harm to you, but now that you have powers, you must use them wisely. We are still trying to make a solution for it. We'll inform you soon when we've had some progress."_ Kakashi had told this to Sasuke a while ago. "So, it's not going to do anything to me. That's great but I don't think I can risk having anything burn at my touch." He was now headed for the park.

When he entered the park, he noticed that it was empty. "Wow, those kids get tired easily." He heard the crunching of his feet ricochet against the night sky. Then he heard a scream. "What?" he heard another one and ran for the sound. "That better not be Sakura," too late. When he got there, he saw Kabuto standing right in front of Sakura. He ran for it. "Sakura!" he saw Hinata on the ground.

Kabuto had punched Sakura in the stomach, causing her to black out. Then he heard someone call out Sakura's name. Kabuto caught Sakura before she fell, but when he turned his head towards the sound, he felt a fist collide with his face, causing him to let go of the girl.

Sasuke took a look at Sakura, "Sakura, wake up come on." He scanned the area looking Kabuto. "Damn it!" He melted some snow on the floor and carried her bridal style.

"I told you that you couldn't ever touch her!" Sasuke's eyes flared red. He couldn't take it anymore. Sakura lay unconscious on the cold cement floor. "You better stay away from her! Or else," he ignited his hands and created two fireballs. "You'll turn into toast."

Kabuto chuckled and appeared in front of Sasuke. "Oh yeah? Let's see you try."

Thus, the battle commenced. Sasuke threw fireball after fireball at Kabuto who was swiftly dodging every flaming sphere. "Is that the best you've got, Uchiha?" Kabuto raced towards Sasuke with a kunai at hand. When he was about to stab Sasuke, he saw a smirk on the Uchiha's face and froze when he felt a kunai stab him in the back.

"Too slow Kabuto. Better try harder than that to beat me." Sasuke said in Kabuto's ear as he pulled the kunai out. He then punched Kabuto hard in the stomach causing him to double over in pain. The beating continued until Kabuto couldn't even stand anymore, but what got Sasuke was why he was smirking.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" Sasuke stood over Kabuto.

Then suddenly Kabuto began to chuckle and he lay his right hand on his stab from before. His hand began to glow purple. The cut slowly began to close. "See Sasuke? You have no chance against me. I'm the one who gave you your powers and I'm the one that can find a way to beat it. Or better yet, I'm the one that can take it away."

Kabuto stood up and dashed towards Sasuke. "Ha that's not going to work a second time Kabuto." Sasuke dodged but then his eyes grew wide. There was a sudden pain in his chest and his head began to ache.

Kabuto was standing behind Sasuke with his palm open facing up and was glowing green. "So I guess the chip has already made its way to your nervous system. Perfect." He began to close his palm slowly making Sasuke scream in agony.

Sasuke clutched his chest as he was on all fours with his forehead on the cold cement floor. His mind was going crazy. Every part of his head hurt like hell and no matter how much he yelled, he couldn't make it stop.

"You like the new addition to the solution I put into you?" Kabuto walked up to Sasuke. "I added a small microchip into the solution that acts as an antenna. I can cause pure hell to break out for you and I don't have to even touch you." He grabbed a hand full of the boy's hair and brought his face up to his own. "Tell me, does it hurt for you that much? I thought you were stronger than this. I can make it even more excruciating, just watch."

He squeezed his hand a little bit more and as expected Sasuke screamed. "Ha, torture is fun Uchiha you should try it some time."

Using all of his will power, Sasuke grabbed onto Kabuto's arm, the one that was glowing, and ignited his hands to as hot as he could go. Kabuto screamed, feeling the fire burn through his skin. He struggled, trying to get away but he couldn't. Pain overwhelmed him. Then, he lost control of Sasuke.

Sasuke's chest and head pains stopped suddenly. "How do you like playing with fire?" Sasuke let go of Kabuto's severely burned arm and grabbed his shoulders. "You know playing with fire is very dangerous," he started then ignited his hands again. Unbearable pain filled Kabuto. "Well, you're looking at Hell." Then he let go of Kabuto and knocked him unconscious.

He ran to Sakura and tried to wake her. Hinata mumbled a little bit and opened her eyes. She saw Sasuke and Sakura who was unconscious in his arms. Then she saw Kabuto, or at least she thought that was him. He had many harsh burns on his shoulders and arm.

She walked up to Sasuke, still trying to get her head together.

"S-Sasuke?" he turned his head and saw Hinata standing right behind him. "Oh Hinata are you okay?" he stood up carrying Sakura bridal style. He forgot that his eyes were still red. _'Oh shit,'_ he looked away quickly and tried to turn them back to normal. It didn't work this time though. _'Crap why isn't it working!'_

"We need to get her back home. Let's hurry." He said without looking up. He felt his hands getting hot. _'Damn what's going on!' _he then asked Hinata to help him get Sakura into a piggyback position.

'_Damn, where's Kakashi when you need him!'_

* * *

After Sasuke dropped Sakura off, he immediately left for Kakashi's office. He ran as fast as he could so that no one could see his hands. They were on fire and wouldn't turn off. Lucky it was already dark out.

He slammed the door open and ran into the dark office. "Kakashi! We have a major problem." Sasuke yelled as he approached the desk. Obviously, Kakashi was there reading his little book. "Oh yes Sasuke what might be the problem?" he asked without looking up from his book.

This irritated Sasuke so he grabbed the book and tossed it to the other side of the room, burning it in the process. "Hey! That was the latest copy!" then Sasuke showed Kakashi his hands. "Look! I can't turn it off. And my eyes are making me dizzy." He said shaking his hands trying to blow out the fire. "Dipping my hands in snow didn't help either."

'_What the hell? This is new. Powers never really went out of control before.'_ "Let's head for the lab and tell me all about it on the way there."

When they made it to the lab, Sasuke's arms were soon on fire as well and he took off his jacket before they got burnt. Now all that was left was his wife-beater shirt and his is pants. They had already found out what was going on and now they were implanting a chip to the back of Sasuke's neck.

"What's this for?" Sasuke was now calm but he was still keeping his arms in the air as to not make anything catch on fire. "I already have a chip in me, I don't need another one."

"Actually you need this one. It can suppress the chip's power and stop your powers. But that's the bad news, it 'stops' your powers but only for a limited time. If the chip breaks though, you never know what your powers will do." Kakashi informed.

"But, okay I can live without them, but what if it comes off. Will I lose control like this again? And feel that pain I did before back in the park?" he asked, thinking of how it would affect the people he cared about.

Kakashi sighed. "Stop freaking out. You have a point though," Kakashi took a seat in front of Sasuke. "You won't be able to control it afterwards if it comes off."

Kakashi saw the worry on the boy's face. "You know what? Take a look at this." Kakashi slipped the bandana off of his eye and showed Sasuke his eye.

"What the hell, you had it too and you never told me?" Sasuke questioned. "Well I never knew you had fire too I mean, that would've helped me if I knew you knew something about it."

Kakashi just shook his head. "No. As a matter of fact I don't have the fire power. Only you have that. And I only have the sharingan on one eye while you have it on both. The thing I don't understand is," he said running his fingers over his scar. "Why yours went out of control. That has never happened with me and Kabuto was the one who implanted the solution in me."

Sasuke told him about the new addition to the solution. Then after Sasuke asked questions like, "How did you get it?" or "Does anyone else know about this?" the talk lasted long after the implanting of the chip to Sasuke's neck.

"Wait Sasuke, speaking of Kabuto, where is he?" Sasuke stopped moving, he had totally forgot about Kabuto. "I um accidentally left him in the park. He's severely burned though and he's unconscious. He's probably still there." Sasuke answered.

Little did Sasuke know, something else was going on in the park.

* * *

Out from the dark allies of Tokyo, a black hooded figure walked towards Kabuto's limp body on the cold cement floor. He heard Kabuto come back to his senses and grabbed him by the collar. He didn't really care that he had burns or not.

"You idiot, you still didn't get her! Worthless piece of junk." He dropped Kabuto and looked into the endless night. "I'm going to get her for leaving me. I'm going to make her feel the pain that I felt when she left if it's the last thing I ever do." He looked back down at Kabuto. "I'll take pity on you and call someone to help you. I doubt master will give you any mercy though."

The mysterious hooded man walked back the way he came. A gust of wind blew at him but he continued walking. His hood came off showing bright red hair, but there was a new addition. A tattoo that was purely visible on the top left side of his forehead.

"You just wait Sakura, I'm coming for you."

* * *

Preview for Chapter 6:

"G-Gaara?" Sakura was amazed to see that Gaara was in the park sitting on the bench. She immediately ran and hugged him tightly. "Gaara, it can't really be you can it?"

She felt him return the hug. "Why Sakura, you came to Tokyo? What happened to you? When I woke up you weren't there, I got really worried." She pulled away from the hug and looked at him. She had tears in her eyes as she smiled brightly. She couldn't believe it at all.

"I really can't believe that you're here," Sakura said loudly. In the bushes, Sasuke was spying, "Neither can I Sakura, neither can I." He whispered to himself and he watched the couple closely.

* * *

HA. Can you believe it? Is it really Gaara? Or is it some evil twin. Haha find out in the next chapter. (Reviews too please : )

- --writingzeaL


	6. Sand or Fire?

**Chapter 6: Sand or Fire?**

Sakura was leisurely walking down random roads that were covered in new blankets of fresh snow. She had gotten up late that day after the sudden appearance of Kabuto the day before. Her arms were folded across her chest as she stared up at the cloudy sky with every step. Her eyes never left the bare tree tops of every street.

She was lost in her thoughts, recalling the recent event.

"_You have something that my master wants. He says you have something that can grant him immortality and release his 'precious' one. I'm glad I'm not in your place."_

She was still pondering on those few sentences. _'I have something that creep's boss wants?' _she ran through all of her possessions in her head but couldn't find one of much importance. _'I could ask Wilson but, no I don't want to drag him into this.'_

Christmas was nearing and Sakura still didn't have anything planned. She was so caught up in the accidents going on that she never had time to arrange anything. She walked passed couples who looked so happy together. Of course, flashbacks of Gaara came to mind again. She just sighed, she knew she could never let go of him; he was her first love.

Once again, her feet brought her to the very same park where everything in her life had happened. She reminisced through all those times and noticed that Sasuke was always there with her. "In fact," she said to herself, "he's always there, no matter what, no matter where."

As her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the snow, she saw a brilliant red colour in the distance. _'Quit thinking it Sakura, it can't be.'_ She couldn't get the thought out of her head. She had to be sure that it wasn't him. She ran.

The tears instantly poured out of her eyes as her eyes fell upon the face of her mysterious red mark.

He still hadn't noticed her there, but instead had a bird on his finger. He was watching it intently with a smile on his face. His elbow was propped up onto his knee with his head resting on his hand. The other hand was held out with a beautiful blue bird perched on his index finger.

"G-Gaara?" Sakura was amazed to see that Gaara was in the park sitting on the bench. She immediately ran and hugged him tightly. "Gaara, it can't really be you can it?"

She felt him return the hug. "Why Sakura, you came to Tokyo? What happened to you? When I woke up you weren't there, I got really worried." She pulled away from the hug and looked at him. She had tears in her eyes as she smiled brightly. She couldn't believe it at all.

"I really can't believe that you're here," Sakura said loudly.

In the bushes, Sasuke was spying, "Neither can I Sakura, neither can I." He whispered to himself and he watched the couple closely.

"What are you doing here? When did you get here? Wait how did you know I was here?" all of these questions empted out of Sakura at quite a speed.

"Wait wait," he got her to stop then there was silent for about two seconds then, "What?" he laughed. "You're going way too fast. Start over." He let her sit down beside him.

They talked for a little bit and all the while, Sasuke was still in the bushes trying to listen in on the conversation. Then, Sakura kissed Gaara quickly on the lips and smiled. Sasuke's heart sank. "Why am I watching this anyway? I know I have to watch over her but not while she's having alone time with her," he dared to say it. "boyfriend."

Sasuke got up, not wanting to see anymore and walked away, head slumped down and hands stuffed into his pockets. "I'll leave them alone for a while."

* * *

Orochimaru could see everything that went on in the park from his high perch atop a building. He saw from when Sakura hugged Gaara and when Sasuke left. "Aa…things are getting interesting. I should have put Gaara in from the beginning instead of letting that moron Kabuto do things."

He pounced off the building and onto the balcony of another building. "He's going to cause much more havoc than Kabuto will ever dream of although," he smirked and stretched his hand down to grab an apple from a by passer. "I do admit, his power solution is something I favour."

"I really hate the thought that I still can't control Gaara fully though. I should have really kept him at the lab for a few more days but this was turning into a disaster." He took a glance at the crimson haired boy. "If I don't get full control of him, he may cause so much chaos that even I won't be able to control."

He dropped the half eaten apple and hit someone on the head. "At least he doesn't know what he's doing right now. If he was always his evil form, he might not be of any use for much of the plan anyway. This way, things are much more fun."

* * *

Now Sakura and Gaara were walking through the park, hand in hand towards the café to get some hot cocoa.

"So, you're not sure how you got here?" Sakura asked. It was rather odd not knowing about things like that. "I mean, your parents never said anything?"

Gaara shook his head. "To be honest, I woke up at the hospital here. They told me I had an apartment in the town somewhere, I think it's near some Academy. They also told me it was paid for and all of my stuff was already there. I try to call my parents but no one's ever home." He replied.

"So," she thought for a moment. "I take that as a 'I don't remember a thing at all." She giggled as she saw Gaara's face. She couldn't believe it. It was like being back on cloud nine after so many months. No more cares in the world.

"You know what?" Gaara said picking up some snow and making it into a snowball. "I have never seen snow as fluffy as this." He said with a grin growing on his face.

"Really?" Sakura said, not noticing what he was doing as he scooped up some snow herself.

Gaara's grin grew to its widest. "It's a shame to waste it," then he threw it at her.

The snowball had hit her square in the back of the head sending snow down her back. "Gaara!" she spun around and threw a snowball at him too. They were laughing and playing around again, like old times.

Gaara didn't know how he found Sakura again or how he got to Tokyo, but he was thankful, at least for now.

* * *

Sasuke was walking down towards his house. He hadn't been there for quite a while and thought it appropriate to leave Sakura alone for a while. After all, she had just seen her boyfriend again and that's all that counted to Sasuke. As long as she was happy, he'd swallow his sadness.

"Wait, you don't care for her. You never have and you never will." He said to himself keeping the feeling in his chest controlled. "She was just the stupid target of the mission. Why did you have to fall for her! Stupid!" Sasuke walked down an alley that was a short cut to his place. It was still bright out so he didn't have to be worried in the allies.

His thoughts trailed back to when it was just Sakura and him; when he would comfort her, when she would take care of him if he was injured, when he made her blush and laugh. He held in the aching feeling in his chest and punched a dumpster. He left quite the dent with just human strength alone.

As much as he tried to prevent it, his eyes began to water but held back the tears. "You don't love her," he repeated to himself over and over. She was the only one that was kind to him, the only one who cared if he was injured or not besides the headquarters people and Naruto. She made him stay at her house, let him sleep next to her. He had never felt that kind of kindness from anyone, and the person who gave him that feeling was slowly slipping from his grasp.

"Damn it," he walked towards his apartment.

* * *

Gaara and Sakura were both standing before her apartment doors. They had just gotten back from the café after getting two hot chocolates. They deserved it too since they had been in the snow for more than an hour.

"Goodnight Sakura." A quick peck on the lips was Gaara's goodnight gift.

"You're positive you can't stay for a little bit?" she asked. "No it's okay. Tomorrow I will because I don't have my stuff with me." He gave a small smile and bade farewell.

When Sakura was out of sight, Gaara leaned onto the wall with pain, griping his head and panting heavily. "What the hell is going on!" Gaara fell to his knees and doubled over from the continuous throbbing of his head. He then blacked out but didn't fall, instead, he felt something else take over him.

His tattoo began to glow bright red. When he looked up his eyes were crimson coloured and an even grin was plastered onto his face. "Finally," he looked at his hands. "That took so much out of me. This boy really has quite the will power." The evil Gaara got up and walked back to the apartment. "Now all I have to do is get the girl and," he stopped in his tracks. He froze, not being able to move any part of his body. The good Gaara was fighting, from the inside out. He would never let Sakura get hurt and by this thing. The evil Gaara just chuckled and stepped back. "I guess Orochimaru found me a host that can't be controlled fully."

He then turned around and began to walk towards the more busy part of the city. "I'll just have my fun elsewhere. I'd like to see if I still have a good handle on my powers."

* * *

Kakashi had just woken up the next morning and did his usual routine. Got out of bed, grabbed some coffee and opened up the television. The channel that popped up was the news channel on a latest update of crime in Tokyo.

"Last night in downtown Tokyo, a young man of twenty-two accompanied by a group of men, were found dead in the alleyways. There were many signs of beatings such as bruises, broken bones, and cuts all over each of them. Here's a witness."

Kakashi heard this and didn't pay much attention to it. This kind of crime wasn't something he worried about too much.

"Y-yes, I d-did see a l-little b-bit of what h-happened." A middle aged man said, frightened to the core. "There was a man with a hooded cape that had his arms folded across his chest. I couldn't really see his face but his build was ordinary." The nervous man said with one breath. He sucked in again and said, "The other guys that are dead now were screaming after being whipped around by sand. Sand I tell yah sand!" the man's hands waved above his head. "It was the most unordinary thing I've ever seen! Hell, he was a mutant I tell you! He didn't take any mercy on those guys!"

Kakashi's head snapped towards his television set as he fumbled with his remote to turn the volume up. "Mutant manipulating sand? It can't be. The sand demon was sealed up long ago. My old boss told me himself!" he stared with disbelief at the video that replayed of what happened in the alleyway. The nervous man was a tourist in Tokyo all the way from Mexico. "Poor guy, I don't think he'll recommend Tokyo as a vacation spot anymore."

Kakashi took notice that it was a man who was controlling the sand and not a mutant-like being. "At least it hasn't fully revealed itself." He grabbed his jacket and headed for headquarters. "Uchiha, looks like you have yourself another mission."

* * *

Later that night, Sasuke agreed to his mission and was now patrolling downtown Tokyo. This time he was in his normal attire, no black suit, for he wanted to get the guy to come to him. He walked down a dark alley with only the street lights on the other end for light.

While walking, Sasuke heard a shifting of what sounded like sand. He slowed down and then stopped before a puddle. He listened closely to his surroundings and stared into the puddle, using it as a mirror. Again the sound of sand could be heard but a bit louder.

'_Okay, I have two choices here.' _Sasuke thought as he slowly put his hands to him side to the pouch on his lower back. _'Option A,'_ he began. _'Slice anything that moves.' _He got a good grip on his kunai. _'Or option B,' _he brought the kunai out of the pouch and put it into his sleeve. _'Calm down and slice anything,'_ he saw sand through the puddle rising slowly. _'That doesn't move.'_ He spun around quickly and threw the kunai.

* * *

Sakura and Hinata once again were together but at Sakura's apartment. They were flipping through photo albums. They were both sitting on the couch and giggling while looking at Sakura's baby photos.

"Aw Sakura!" Hinata pointed to a picture of Sakura holding a snowball in her tiny three-year-old hands. The snowball was quite large actually, almost one fourth of Sakura's height. "That's so cute!"

They laughed a little bit and went to the next album. Sakura chose at random so she didn't know what she was picking up.

The first pace was a kid Gaara and a small Sakura standing together. They were both smiling widely while hugging a golden retriever. They were in a large grassy area. "Wait, there weren't any grassy areas in New York, Sakura. Where is this?" Hinata asked.

"That's my backyard back when I used to live next to Gaara's family in Connecticut. Gaara and I moved to New York later on because of our parents' businesses but we always went back to our houses when we get the chance." She stared at the picture. Then she flipped the page and there was a copy of the one in her room, the piggyback ride.

She stared at it long and hard and noticed something that she really didn't think of much. He didn't have a tattoo on his forehead. She brought the picture closer to see if she could really be sure that was the place where the tattoo was when she saw him. She was positive.

"What the hell," she said out in a whisper. "He never really mentioned anything about the tattoo."

* * *

There was a sharp sound of metal hitting metal as the kunai struck the dumpster behind the person standing behind him. Sasuke's eyes widened at the mere thought of piercing the guy through the heart. _'I wish I could just kill him, but I don't have a logical reason,'_

It was Gaara right behind Sasuke, only he looked different to Sasuke. He eyed the tattoo that was glowing red and his eyes were red as well. Last time he looked at a picture of him, he didn't have red eyes. He soon noticed that he didn't flinch at the dagger that nearly sliced him.

"Uh, sorry about that. I just bought a new knife and I wanted to try it out. You know how we tourists are." Sasuke said. He was lucky Gaara didn't know who he was yet. _'I better get out of here.' _Sasuke pulled out the kunai from the dumpster and put it in his pouch and began to walk away. "Really sorry about that!" Sasuke waved back and continued out.

Gaara never said anything through the whole meeting. "So that was the assassin Orochimaru was talking about. And he knows Sakura as well. Hmm," he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away grinning. "I can't have any competition when it comes to Sakura, that'll make things too hard for me. I might as well release Sakura from her little friend."

Only the water that splashed at Gaara's footsteps could be heard in the alley.

* * *

Sasuke walked swiftly to Sakura's apartment the next morning, wanting to warn her about her boyfriend. He didn't seem like himself the day before and who wouldn't flinch at the sight of a knife almost killing them?

He knocked on her suit door and waited impatiently for the door to open. When it did he saw that the television was on and there was a movie playing in the DVD player. Sakura was standing right in front of him with a smile on her face. "Oh hi Sasuke! Wanna come in? We're just in the middle of a movie."

He wanted to say yes but when he looked at the couch, Gaara was there. "Hey, Sasuke right?" Gaara waved. _'Crap, he better not have said anything about the knife incident,'_ Sasuke thought and looked at him for a long time. His eyes were back to their natural gold colour and his tattoo was black. "What the hell," Sasuke whispered to himself.

"Hey Gaara come over here! I wanna introduce you two." Gaara got up and walked slowly over to the door.

"Hey, it's Gaara." He extended a hand to Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't put his mind on the dot but he seemed really gentle and kind, very different from the night before. "Hey, Sasuke." Sasuke took his hand and shook it.

"Dude, is there something on my face or," Gaara just looked at Sasuke weirdly. He's been staring at Gaara for sometime now. "Oh ah, no I was just wondering. I thought I saw you downtown last night that's all." Sasuke had to test it.

"Oh really? I don't really remember where I was yesterday to be honest, I blacked out at home." He answered with a sheepish smile. "I really don't know I should go to the doctors to ask why I keep blacking out."

'_Blacking out?'_ then the DVD player started and the movie played. Sasuke knew that this was normal; some DVD players were like that. He didn't want to disturb them any longer so he said his goodbyes. "I'm uh; I just hope you guys enjoy yourselves tonight. Tomorrow is Christmas eve after all." Sasuke forced a small smile onto his face and walked away in the direction of the elevator.

Sakura saw the sad smile and something inside her clicked. She had never seen Sasuke like that before. Something must've been troubling him. She tried to brush it off though. "Let's get back to the movie, Sakura." _'It's okay, get a hold of yourself Sakura, he's probably just stressed out since its Christmas.'_

She went back into the apartment with Gaara but her thoughts kept replaying Sasuke's sad smile over and over again, against her will.

* * *

Sasuke was sitting on the rooftops of Leaf Valley Academy, his back against a wall, staring at the many rooftops of other buildings. He got up there by asking the janitor who was there to do the weekly cleaning.

He continuously made snowballs and threw them at the railing, causing a slight wave of sounds. He was still trying to get his mind off of Sakura and Gaara being together.

"Damn it, why am I being like this. This isn't like me," he threw the snowball and missed, sending it to the grounds below. "That Gaara kid is really lucky," patted a new snowball. "And strange too." Then his thoughts went back to the tattoo.

He dropped the snowball and walked up to the railing that he was throwing at. He tried to remember what the symbol looked like. "I think I should ask Kakashi about that one," but then he remembered how Gaara had no clue what went on the night before. "I'm positive that was Gaara last night though," he leaned onto the railing and decided to clear his mind of all thoughts for the time being. He already had so much to worry about.

For a few minutes he closed his eyes and let the snow and the light breeze blow through his hair and face, trying to relax and forget his troublesome world. Then light crunching of footsteps were heard.

"Hey stranger." His ears perked up as he turned around, looking at a beautiful angel. "Sakura," he said trying to belief that that was her. "I thought you were with Gaara?" he was now standing up straight.

Sakura walked up next to him and leaned onto the railing. "Something you did really disturbed my thoughts." She said seriously but playfully at the same time as she stared over the city. "I just wanted the answer to why you did it." She faced him. "I've never seen you this sad before."

Sasuke didn't want to look at her; the concern in her eyes would make him spill everything. He kept his eyes glued to his hands which were hanging over the railing. _'I do care for her, I just knew I did.'_ Sasuke took a deep breath and started. "Did you see the news? About the murder of young men in downtown Tokyo?" he said.

Sakura shook her head in response. "What about it?"

"The man who killed them had powers, abilities that could cause havoc when wanted." He was still looking at his hands, not moving from his position as he continued to inform her of the crime scene. "I can't do anything against someone like that if they ever get to you. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt," he paused. "I don't want anyone to hurt you, physically or emotionally." He stopped and there was silence.

"I just feel so weak when I see you hurt Sakura," he stopped again when he felt his body move and two arms wrap around his torso. He was kind of shocked with the sudden gesture but gladly returned it.

"Just please promise me you're going to be careful with yourself? Now that your boyfriend's back, he can take over my job." He couldn't believe he was saying this to her. He was just giving her up just like that?

She pulled away and looked straight into his eyes. "No one could ever take your place, ever." She said it sincerely and it touched Sasuke. Sasuke gave her a tight hug, "Thank you."

'_Things are really getting complicated. I can't choose between the two. I love them both and I can't bear to see either of them hurt. What am I going to do,'_ Sakura thought as Sasuke and her stood there embracing each other.

* * *

Preview for Chapter 7:

Gaara and Sakura were trapped like two mice in a maze. Orochimaru approached slowly with a sly grin. "Good work Gaara, I knew you could do it." They were all in a dead end alley way with no way out but up.

"I don't know you! What the hell are you talking about?" Gaara screamed stepping in front of Sakura protectively. "Step back, don't come any closer." Gaara gritted his teeth.

Orochimaru let out an evil chuckle and looked Gaara straight in the eye. "You may not know me but the one inside you knows me very well." Orochimaru began to glow black as he chanted something under his breath.

Gaara suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. "Gaara!" Sakura screamed.

* * *

So? How was that? I couldn't think of anything to write last night. Yes believe it or not I was already thinking of the next chapter after I uploaded the last one. Don't blame me, I have nothing to do at home. It really sucks actually haha I need to get a life. **head hangs down and sighs**

- --writingzeaL


	7. Liars

**Chapter 7: Liars**

The stars shone down on the wonderful city of Tokyo while two teenagers walked happily hand in hand after seeing a movie. It was still a cold December night but being with each other kept them warm. They were alone, walking down a sidewalk along side huge buildings in western Tokyo. It was Christmas Eve so everyone was with their families on this night, leaving the streets empty of people.

Sakura and Gaara walked together looking at the Christmas lights on the streets and the billions of stars that peeked out from the clouds. "This day was great Gaara," Sakura began. "At least I got to spend Christmas Eve with someone I love." She smiled and hugged his arm.

"Sakura," a spine chilling voice said to the wind, echoing in the quiet night. Sakura heard and spun around quickly, not seeing any other human in sight. _'That was really weird, there's no one else here but us.' _She brushed it off as she continued to talk to Gaara.

"Yeah I had fun today too. I mean, it's not like any other Christmas Eve with a Christmas tree and all that but it was the best one I've had." Gaara said proudly. He had just taken Sakura to watch a movie and he's glad he chose one she liked.

The voice said her name again but this time Gaara heard as well. "What was that? There's no one else here." He scanned the streets and the empty sidewalks. He was getting worried. Sakura had told him that there was someone after her, but he thought all the problems happened over in downtown Tokyo. He picked up the pace with Sakura in hand.

"Did you hear that Sakura? I thought I heard something," Sakura knew what he was talking about and nodded quickly trying to keep up with his pace. "Yeah I heard it," she began and then her voice became stern. "I think I know who that is."

Every time her name was said, there was a hint of sliminess in it, sort of snake-like. It kept getting louder and louder until Gaara couldn't take it. He spun around and didn't see anyone. He was getting very irritated. But when he turned around in the direction he and Sakura were walking in before, a man stood at the end of the sidewalk, eyes unseen.

"Wait, that doesn't look like that creep that always showed up before," Sakura said eyeing the mysterious figure. "He's a bit paler but I still can't see his eyes. The creep that was after me had glasses." Before she could continue telling Gaara about her attacker, the figure began to walk towards them.

His crooked smile repeated the name again. "Sakura," he walked a bit faster, but kept his pace. Gaara freaked and then pulled Sakura as they ran back the way they came.

"That is not a good sign Sakura." He said, point his thumb back at the man who was slowly chasing them. "Okay, I don't think he has glasses, so who else could it be?"

When they got to an intersection, he looked back and saw nothing but when he looked across the street, that same man stood, staring at them. They took a right and continued to run.

"What, how did he get there!" Gaara asked running with Sakura at his side. "Wait okay what? You don't know who that is?" Gaara said between pants.

They took another turn. "No, I have no clue who that could be. I swear." She basically screamed out that line. She never felt so freaked in her life. She was scared half to death. "It could be that sand user guy that Sasuke told me about yesterday. But so far he hasn't used his powers." She continued. They took a turn again. "Or, it could be," Sakura felt something sink in her stomach at the thought of that man being who she thought it was. "The boss."

This chase went on for about a few more minutes until Gaara and Sakura found themselves at a dead end. The same man appeared before them yet again.

Gaara and Sakura were trapped like two mice in a maze. Orochimaru approached slowly with a sly grin. "Good work Gaara, I knew you could do it." They were all in a dead end alley way with no way out but up. It was dark with barely any light, there were dirty puddles everywhere, pipes came down huge brick walls and there were rats here and there dashing from on side of the alley to the other.

"I don't know you! What the hell are you talking about?" Gaara screamed stepping in front of Sakura protectively. "Step back, don't come any closer." Gaara gritted his teeth.

Orochimaru let out an evil chuckle and looked Gaara straight in the eye. "You may not know me but the one inside you knows me very well." Orochimaru began to glow black as he chanted something under his breath.

Gaara suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. "Gaara!" Sakura screamed.

* * *

Sasuke was still chasing Orochimaru. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to get to him, to end all of the insanity. _'That better be Orochimaru. I don't want to be wasting my time chasing some normal criminal.' _He chased him up to an intersection. He saw someone he wouldn't have believed to be there. 

"No, Sakura!" he yelled. She didn't seem to notice but instead ran in a different direction, Gaara along with her. He turned and saw that Orochimaru was already on the other side of the street. He sprinted for it.

"Damn, what's she doing here? It's already way past dark." He then took Gaara in account. "Well, she was with that red head. Maybe that's why," he tightened his fist just thinking of them being together again. "I really have to get a hold of myself."

From afar, Sasuke could see that Orochimaru turned into an alley. Then Sasuke's ears perked up as he heard painful screams. Sasuke began to panic. "Come on, come on!" Sasuke ran as fast as he could.

A few more steps away, Sasuke was nearing his destination. When he turned the corner, he saw Sakura crying with her back against a wall, the man with the hooded cape who was supposedly Orochimaru standing still, watching. Finally there was Gaara walking slowly towards Sakura, in a dangerous kind of way.

He soon saw Gaara surrounded by sand, as if controlling it. _'It was him! It was Gaara I saw that night.'_ Without anymore hesitation, Sasuke ran for it, charging towards Gaara.

* * *

Sakura had just seen her boyfriend scream in agony, along with his tattoo glowing red. She couldn't do anything but let the tears drop from her eyes. She was so confused and scared for herself and Gaara. This man in the cape was very dangerous, she coud finally tell. 

"Sakura, why don't we get out of here now, hmm?" Gaara asked unemotionally as both his eyes and his tattoo glowed red.

"Gaara, what's wrong with you? A minute ago you were," she was cut off. "I am not the boy you knew. He is no longer here; I have taken his place." The crimsoned-haired boy said in a monotone voice.

"What are you talking about? All I see is Gaara before me." She said rather nervously. _'What has he done to Gaara?'_ Gaara didn't give an answer but instead showed it. Sand began to surround Gaara from head to toe. He walked slowly, closer to Sakura.

Sakura couldn't scream or do anything. She was frozen on the spot. She just stared into the red eyes of the boy she once knew. "No, what have you done to him!" that was her final attempt to get her attacker to stop walking. It didn't work.

Before Gaara could do anything, he was pushed hard to the side by a strong force. He was sent flying over to Orochimaru's feet.

"Sakura, are you alright? Did he do anything to you?" Sasuke knelt down and shook Sakura's shoulders trying to get her to snap out of her feared state. He looked around and saw that Orochimaru just watched the scene with an evil smile bound to his face. He stood there treacherously, giving off a strong black glow.

Then Gaara got up and shot sand out at Sasuke who didn't know what was coming. He was shoved to the side easily, thenGaara approached Sakura once more. This time though, Sakura ran for it.

"Get away from me! You're not my boyfriend you monster!" she said not looking over her shoulder as she ran. She only got as far as Sasuke did as she tripped on Gaara's sand.

Sasuke couldn't take much more of it. He knew he couldn't win against someone as powerful as Gaara but he had to try. He pulled off his jacket leaving his black shirt and navy blue pants and grabbed onto the chip behind his head. "Here goes nothing." He ripped the chip off as hard as he could, screaming in the process.

'_I know having Sakura see this isn't a very good idea but I have no choice.'_ As he regained his composure, he flared both of his arms on fire, his eyes filled with pure rage as he glared at Orochimaru then at Gaara with his red eyes. Now both eyes had three black commas on them, spinning rapidly.

Sakura saw this and couldn't believe any of it. First her boyfriend goes crazy and now Sasuke has fire flaring out of his arms. All she could do was watch. It was like her eyes were glued to the scene, unable to control any of her body functions. _'This is just a dream, a bad dream on Christmas Eve.' _She told herself, trying to absorb everything that she was seeing.

"So you think you can beat me? To me, you're just a candle waiting to be blown out." Gaara said staring down his opponent.

"Beat is a bit of a minor definition of what I'm going to do to you." Sasuke spat back. Then he began to loose control of his powers again. His eyes were driving him crazy as his fire power began to blaze more intensely. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to regain control but to no success.

Sasuke had to let his powers out, his rage out. He couldn't hold it in. He let out a loud yell and then slumped over panting. When he looked up, his eyes both had three black stripes and his voice changed, it got lower.

"Die, Beach Boy." Said the Uchiha dangerously before they both exchanged blows.

* * *

In the headquarters lab, Kakashi was drinking his coffee and reading his usual book when suddenly, something began to beep annoyingly on the big screen before him. "What?" he whispered as he took a closer look at what was going on. 

It was Sasuke. He had taken off the chip that contained his powers. That was also a tracking device so that the people at headquarters would know where the person was, in this case, Sasuke.

"I'll go and get him." Kakashi volunteered as he dropped his book and coffee and sped out the door. _'Why would he release his powers now?'_

* * *

Both warriors were standing far apart, not even breaking a sweat. They both looked at each otherdangerously as they let the battle rage on. 

Sasuke couldn't believe he wasn't tired yet. It had been quite some time since they started the battle. "Tired yet, Beach Boy?" Sasuke asked tauntingly as he threw a huge fireball at Gaara.

"How could a birthday candle like you get me tired?" Gaara said plainly as he blocked the fireball with a sand wall.

Then someone dove down from the skies and struck Gaara square in the face. That same person threw three kunai at Orochimaru, causing him to jump back.

Sasuke saw this and immediately turned to Sakura. "Run," he said in a hoarse voice. He didn't want his powers to hurt her. She was standing now for a while as she screamed during the battle trying to make them both stop.

She stared at Sasuke with watery eyes. Then her eyes fell upon his arms which were ignited with blazing fire. She knew this wasn't a dream anymore. Before her eyes, the two men she loved the most battled it out. She didn't know what she could do.

"Run! Get away from me before I lose it." Sasuke said a bit more firmly but she didn't move. "If you are the real Sasuke," she began softly as things between them silenced. "I'm not going to leave you here like this." She ended sincerely looking into his red eyes. "My knight is shining armour." She whispered.

By now Kakashi had driven Orochimaru away. "I will be back to get the girl Kakashi. You know me better than anyone, so you'll know that I don't give up on my prey that easily." Orochimaru grinned and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, bringing Gaara with him.

Kakashi went over to the two teens. "Sakura let us explain this to you, not here though." Then Sasuke began to scream holding his head.

"Sasuke? Sasuke!" Sakura screamed. She was about to walk up to him when Kakashi stopped her. "No it's too dangerous in his state. We need to bring him back to headquarters." Kakashi dashed behind the Uchiha who was wildly shaking and struck him behind the neck, causing him to black out.

"Sakura, let's go. I know this is weird," Kakashi said after looking at her confused face. "You only knew me as your teacher right? Well things are going to get even more confusing from this point on." His eyes were telling Sakura that he was telling the truth. She just nodded and went with Kakashi to head quarters, with Sasuke on his back, unconscious.

* * *

Naruto was at home in his comfy bed with tissues covering the floor. His nose was red from all of the sneezing and wiping. He was about to go to sleep when his phone rang. He had put the phone from downstairs into his room because he didn't want to keep going up and down just to get it. 

He picked it up and couldn't believe it was Kakashi. "Kakashi! Just let me sleep, I'm sick remember? I don't wanna get up!" he whined. But Kakashi wasn't finished. "It's about Sasuke, and Sakura," he didn't even finish when Naruto cut in. "What! What about Sasuke? Sakura too? What happened?" he was frantically asking questions now and sitting up in his bed. "Just come here Naruto. I'll arrange a ride for you." Then the line ended leaving a long buzz behind.

Naruto got up as fast as he could in his state. He ran to the closet, recklessly trying to find his jacket. _'What could Sasuke seriously get Sakura into? He's not the type to let things like this happen. What's going on in this world! It's like I'm the only sane one left!' _when Naruto didn't find his jacket in the closet, he ran back into his room. _'Geez, when are things going to go back to normal! I knew taking this stupid assassin job was a bad idea. I told Sasuke that but he wouldn't listen!'_ he ran over all of the tissues and when to his bedroom closet. _'Where is that freaking jacket?' _he just forgot about the jacket and grabbed a sweater and ran out the door.

* * *

At headquarters, everyone was in a panic because of the new discovery of Sasuke loosing his powers again. Everyone ran from one place to another getting this in order for the arrival of the assassin. 

Sakura followed behind Kakashi as he walked through the mess and towards a sort of glass cage or prison. When they walked into the room through the sliding door, it was completely white with a small bed in the middle. Kakashi carefully lay the sleeping boy down and walked out, dragging Sakura with him.

She didn't really have any idea what was going on. Since the first step into the building, she just stared at everything, finding everything rather strange. It was an ordinary looking building from the outside but when entered into, there were so many gadgets and machines that were ever made by man and everyone seemed to obey Kakashi's every will.

They had now just entered Kakashi's office. Kakashi sat in his large rotating armchair and invited Sakura to sit. "Now Sakura, I need to explain this to you clearly," he began. "And nothing must leave this room ever. What I'm going to say is strictly top secret." He stared at her with both his eyes. Now that Sakura thought of it, he never took off the bandana that covered his left eye. Now she was staring at a dangerous red eye with three black stripes on it.

Then something clicked in her mind. "What do you mean 'strictly top secret!' You couldn't even tell me that I was being chased by a freaky snake man?" she raged on. "That's just great. I always wanted a stalker." she said sarcastically. "And what the hell is with you? First I thought you were just a teacher but now you have to be a leader of some society? I came to Tokyo to live a normal life, not to be used as bait for that freak that calls himself a human." She said angrily. She couldn't take it.

'_How could Sasuke do this to me? I had trusted him with all of my secrets and I even loved him. Now I'm not so sure. If he lied about this, what else had he lied about?'_ she fought the tears that threatened to spill out at any moment. Then the door swung open. A sick Naruto came ran in and began to ask about Sasuke.

"Where's Sasuke, Kakashi? Where is he? Is he hurt? What about Sakura? Did anything happen to them?" Naruto stopped his frenzy when he saw Sakura sitting in the chair in front of Kakashi. "Oh Sakura, you're okay! You are, aren't you?" Naruto went up to her and looked at her straight in the eye. "Tell me you're okay." He commanded.

"He's in this too? Great who else has lied to me these past months, hmm?" She pointed the question at Kakashi. "You know what? You make me seem like an idiot walking around not knowing anything about this stalker that's trying to kill me!" she struggled to keep the tears back.

"Some normal life this turned out to be." Those were her last words before they heard slamming. All of their heads turned towards the glasses room that they put Sasuke into. He was standing right next to the glass, slamming his fist trying to get their attention. "Sakura! Naruto! Kakashi! What the hell's going on with me?" Indeed, his eyes were red once again and his arms wouldn't stop flickering on and off with fire. His voice was the same though, it didn't stay the way it did back in the alley. "Help me!"

Sakura went up to the glass and stared into her saviour's eyes. "How could you lie to me Sasuke." Tears began to flow down her cheeks. "I trusted you with everything." She was now furiously speaking, but not screaming. It was compressed as she angrily stared into Sasuke's eyes. "I let you stay in my apartment, I let you sleep in the same bed, I even watched when you didn't know it. I had thought you were just a normal teenage boy, and not a killer." She didn't even bother to wipe the tears off her face. "I even loved you." With that and one last look at Sasuke, she walked out of the office.

Sasuke couldn't do anything. He couldn't even say a single word to her. He just stared at the spot where Sakura stood before. _'She loved me?'_ he was now on his knees looking at his hands. _'Loved? Meaning, she doesn't love me anymore?'_ he clenched his fists and yelled and punched the floor as hard as he could. Even though his punch made a dent in the floor, his anger and sadness weren't satisfied. He was filled with rage, anger, anger for the whole stupid society for allowing him to become an assassin; anger for the whole stupid mission.

'_Why couldn't I be a normal teenager like she thought I was?' _His eyes filled with tears but he didn't dare let them fall. He slowly put his head up to look at Kakashi who was staring at him sadly along with Naruto. They knew what had happened between them and they didn't want to see him like this.

He just sat there on his knees and stared down at the floor thinking over everything. He doesn't want to lose her; he won't lose her. His eyes filled with determination. _'I'm going to get her to understand me. I will.'_ Then the screen began to alarm again.

"What's that?" Kakashi yelled out to one of the workers. "I think it's Sakura sir. One of our workers stuck a tracking device on her, you know for safety reasons." The worker never looked away from the screen in which he was looking at. They saw that she was apparently moving at high speed. "She's in a car." Kakashi said confidently but worriedly at the same time.

He looked back to Sasuke. "I'm sorry Sasuke, but you have to stay here. Naruto and I will go get her." His right eye glimmered, promising that he would do anything in his power to get her back for him.

"Get her? From who? What happened to her?" Sasuke asked anxiously, fear blinding all of his senses.

"Orochimaru," was all Kakashi said before he lifted the bandana off his left eye once again and ran out the door with Naruto.

'_No wait! Damn!'_ Sasuke yelled in his head punching the floor. _'First she's mad at me and now she's kidnapped by that freak of nature!' _He got up trying hard to calm his powers down. His eyes shut tightly from the effort as energy seeped through him. _'Come on, get a hold of your powers Uchiha! You can't let her go that easily.' _He began to yell as he tried to control his powers. He gripped his fists tightly.

'_I love her and that's all that matters to me.'_

* * *

I'm sooooo sorry that it took me so long! I had so many parties to go to during the weekend and I had to visit the doctors a lot because of my knee. Just difficulties with sports that's all. But anyway at least I got this one up. Please give reviews and I hope I get to update soon. Hahah you guys aren't the only ones waiting for an update on this story; I am too. 

- --writingzeaL


	8. Life is Never Fair

**Chapter 8: Life is Never Fair**

It was silent in the glass room that held a raven haired young man captive throughout the still night with the twinkling of tiny stars on the outside world. As the hours of darkness showed an obsidian sky, the young man sat on the pale bed set for him with memories running through his head to no end. Every thought, every memory always involved a young woman with unique pink hair.

As Sasuke's knees supported his body which lent on them using his elbows to maintain his position, he stared down at his white shoes with his now normal black eyes. His eyes weren't the blood red colour nor did his arms flare with dangerous flames anymore. Only his steady breathing could be heard in the space that he was in at the moment.

'_Sakura was always the happy one, but when the time came when she was down, I was always there for her, always.' _He thought as he reminisced certain times in his life with the girl. _'Oh and I remember that time when she freaked when I came to her house bright and early. I still remember her angelic face as she dreamt peacefully. I could never really get that face out of my mine since I first lay my eyes on her.'_

He shifted his position and was now lying with his back on the bed and his legs hanging over the end of the bed. _'I never really got to tell her that I loved her.'_ The thought suddenly walked into his mind. _'But then how could I with that stupid red head always there. He sticks to her like glue! But then,' _he chuckled to himself. _'I wouldn't ever leave her side either.'_

He sat up and just shook every negative thought out. _'No, I should just tell her and get it over with. Just because she has a boyfriend doesn't mean that she's officially gone.' _He reassured himself with that thought.

He stood up and walked over to one of the glass windows. The window was just about as long as he was and twice as wide as the length. He stared out but at himself through his reflection. "Look at yourself, locked up in this prison they call a room. You should be out there getting Sakura back, but no you had to freaking lose control of yourself again."

He scolded himself and then flared on of his arms and punched the glass as hard has he could. He knew it wouldn't work but he had nothing else to do.

Over the many hours of sitting and scolding himself, he figured out a few ways to control his energy which fed the flames. He had spent almost half the night practicing to control his energy and he had just stopped a few moments ago; before he began to remember things. He still didn't have full control, but he was determined to get it right.

Up till now, he still hadn't slept. It was very early in the morning but he didn't care. He couldn't do much; it had been several hours since Sakura was kidnapped and he cursed himself for now being able to get out of the glass cage.

Suddenly, the glass door slid open revealing a hooded figure. All Sasuke did was step back from the window and stare with calm and perilous eyes.

* * *

The cold night breeze blew swiftly past the blonde boy's face as his head stuck out of an open car window. The driver held a steady, tranquil posture as his left hand held the wheel and he right hand rested on his lap. The car was an amazingly fast one, complete with stereos and GPS. 

They've been driving for almost six hours and still, their target never ceased to be on the move. A red eye flashed with purpose as he stared at the empty road before him. _'Orochimaru is not going to hurt another life this time.'_ His thoughts were interrupted by a curious question.

"Kakashi, how do you know Orochimaru?" Kakashi was taken aback. "Why would you think I knew him?" he asked cautiously. "Well, it's just that when I, or anyone for that matter, mention his name, you suddenly grow impatient." Naruto answered intellectually.

There was silence then, "Orochimaru," Naruto suddenly said. Kakashi just glared at him for a moment and then set his eyes back on the road. "See?" Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited for Kakashi to start.

"Orochimaru was and still is an evil, sly man. He had deceived my family and loved ones once," he began. "And I won't let him do it again. Not to Sasuke, not to you, not to anyone. You guys are my responsibility." His eyes never left the road.

"Am I allowed to ask how he deceived you?" Now, Naruto was sitting back in his chair properly and looking straight ahead. Kakashi could tell that Naruto wasn't playing around. If he was, he would have laughed a long time ago about something rather idiotic.

"It's just, he was my father's friend and fellow assassin. He just didn't really want to stay friends with my father, more like kill him for his position." Both Kakashi and Naruto grew silent. Naruto knew that Kakashi's father was a great leader of the assassin society but he never knew Orochimaru was the cause of his death.

Kakashi stared back onto the road lost in his memories. As he recalled everything, he ran his free hand down the left side of his face, only to feel the indent of his scar through his white bandana.

* * *

_A young boy of about ten years old held onto his fathers hand as they walked slowly towards the meeting room accompanied by four other bodyguards. The little silver head of hair stared around in amazement as he looked around at the large windows and all of the neatly cut couches and tables. He had never seen what his father's work place befor he knew he was the greatest assassin that ever lived._

_The taller silver haired man brought his son along with him into the meeting because he was coming of age and would soon start working at the society as well. He was very proud of his son and he could tell that it would bring great joy to the child if he finally saw where he worked._

_His friend had called them into a meeting considering that it was a time of great crimes. "Please take a seat Mr. Hatake. Oh and young sir please take a seat next to your father as well." It was Orochimaru with a young, sophisticated face. In fact he actually looked human with a small smile faintly seen on his face._

"_Father?" Kakashi lost grip of his father's hand as he stared into Orochimaru's eyes. There was something evil there, he could tell. Orochimaru stared back into the child's innocent and curious eyes and bent down so he was eye level with Kakashi. "Don't worry; things will go by in a flash." There was a glint in Orochimaru's eye as his kind smile turned into an evil grin._

_Then, ear piercing screams were omitted from the taller silver headed man. Kakashi snapped his head towards his father and saw that a small dagger stuck out from his chest as he slowly fell giving off a loud groan. "Father? No, Father!" Kakashi screamed as water began to trickle down his cheeks._

_He had just witnessed his father's death and now the same men who stabbed his father were walking slowly towards him. He ran for his life._

_He ran down long corridors and marble staircases until he came to a large glass door. He pushed it open a found his surroundings rather odd. He was in a laboratory with glowing green substances contained in glass bottles._

_He turned around Orochimaru was standing right above him. Kakashi gave out a loud scream as a knife struck him on the left side of his face. He fell backward and the green substance landed on his wound, causing him to scream even more in pain._

"_Boy, you need to die here and now. I promise I will make good use of the society. Don't worry; I'll only kill a few million people." Orochimaru chuckled evilly and then got his knife ready. Kakashi screamed and threw something at his attacker. He didn't know or care what he threw; all he cared about was the chance to escape._

_Orochimaru groaned as green slimy material covered his body and entered through wounds and such. He threw the knife at the little rascal but missed._

_Kakashi ran for his life, not wanting to look back at his father's dead body._

* * *

Two figures ran down the back alley of the headquarters building, headed for a bright red car in the distance. One had a hooded cape while the other had a hooded sweater. It was still as dark as ever as morning crept up slowly. The only light was coming from the full moon that hung in the dark black pool in the sky. 

"Are you positive you know where she is?" the individual with the hooded sweater asked to the other. "I mean, we might be doing this for nothing!" the same person looked cautiously around the corner of the wall they were leaning against. "Good, no one in sight."

"You know what? You really should relax! I know where she is," the other one pulled out a small mechanism that seemed to have a red dot on it that blinked continuously. "See? They already stopped at the outskirts of town. Seems like the old castle ruins,"

Before the sentence could be finished, the person was tugged sharply towards the bright red car by her companion. The sudden gesture pulled the hood off, revealing blonde hair and a diamond on the person's forehead.

"Oy! Sasuke! Don't do that," Tsunade said briskly as she pulled the hood back over her head. "I don't wanna get caught out here you know! You're lucky enough to even have me come all the way over here to save your sorry butt." She complained endlessly until they got to the car.

"I'm driving." Sasuke said immediately during Tsunade's rampage of complaints. "No you can't I have the keys," She held the keys as if tauntingly. "I don't care about those stupid keys. I'll just high wire the stupid vehicle."

Sasuke was going to get into the drivers seat when Tsunade suddenly smacked the back of his head. "Ow!" he rubbed the sore spot. "No one's driving this car but me." she got into the drivers seat, waiting for Sasuke to get into the passenger seat. He just gave a loud groan and ran to the other side of the car.

With the two car doors fully shut, all that could be seen in the light of the silver moon was a red blur.

* * *

Sakura had long given up on getting out of the truck that was carrying her away mile by mile to a place unknown to her. She had tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes; evidence of hours of crying. She had tried countless times to get herself out of the moving prison but every attempt was brushed of by the large metal vehicle. 

"What the hell did I do to deserve this?" she asked herself. She was sitting, leaning against one of the four walls that surrounded her, and her knees were up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. "I don't even know what he wants with me, let alone why everyone seems to know about it more than I do. I just wanna go home." She laid her head down on her arms. _'Sasuke, why is it I keep thinking about you.'_

Then the whole vehicle suddenly stopped, making Sakura jolt her head up and using her hands as support so that she wouldn't fall over. "What?" she got up slowly and looked out one of the windows. There was nothing but green meadows and an old worn down castle. "Now what?" she suddenly got angry at the thought of being dragged all the way out of Tokyo to a stupid castle that looked like it would fall apart at any moment.

The doors swung open, causing Sakura to jerk back and gasp. It was none other than Gaara. _'Not him again,'_ She thought, fear visible in her eyes.

Gaara had an emotionless face plastered onto his face as he just waited at the entrance of the truck. His crimson eyes glared through the darkness of the space, spotting pink hair. "Better come out now, you wouldn't want me to go in there and get you." His voice echoed through the truck. Sakura shivered from fear and got up slowly, walking out.

As soon as she hit the ground, Gaara grabbed her arm and dragged her to the castle. "Orochimaru wouldn't want you to be late." He said, not looking back at her. Struggle all she could, she couldn't match Gaara's strength, or even conquer her fear of him.

Gaara just dragged her into the castle ruins with Sakura in tow.

* * *

Sasuke's hair lashed about as the car window gave passage to the wind. He didn't mind though, he just stared out at the many sakura trees they had passed and began to remember things. The day he first met her came to mind as soon as many sakura petals flew into the car onto his lap. 

He gently took a petal into his hand. The soft delicate object caught his full attention as everything else around him disappeared. His gaze never left the petal as his mind raced through memories.

'_Her smile, her laugh, just her. I can't believe she was taken away from me and by the freak too.'_ He began to scold himself for not being able to save her, protect her. He really did wish he was a normal teenager. _'Maybe if I didn't take this stupid job I wouldn't have gotten her into this mess. But then again,'_ as if his mind had a mind of its own, it began to argue back. _'I wouldn't have met her.'_ He grimaced at the thought of not meeting her. She had changed him, more than he would ever know.

"Sakura on your mind I see." Tsunade finally spoke up, seeing the young boy stare at the sakura petal that gracefully flew in through the open window.

It was more of a statement than a question to Sasuke. "Hn…" was all he said back. Again, while he said that, his gaze never left the petal. He couldn't quite get it but he couldn't get his mind off of her.

"Sasuke," Tsunade started. "You know, she does love you, I know that much." This caught Sasuke's attention. "I've never seen her that happy since Gaara was still alive." Sasuke interrupted here. "You're wrong, she still loves him." He gritted his teeth. "Did you see him? He's alive," he looked at her but there was no surprise.

"Okay so he's alive, but couldn't you see she was enjoying her life with you? I was there with her when she first answered Gaara and I do admit she couldn't have been happier at the time but," they stopped at a stop light. "When I saw her with you, I couldn't believe my eyes. She was happy again. You may not have seen her laugh or smile, but she always talked about you."

The light turned green but Tsunade didn't notice. "Just get it through your think head Uchiha, even if Gaara's back, do you think she would forget all the times she had with you? I doubt that. She's just going through a hard time," horns began to honk as cars lined up behind Tsunade's car.

She looked ahead at the open road before her but didn't move the car. "Love is like a seed Sasuke, fragile. It can be lost easily if not watched over. If not taken care of, the flower will wither. If rushed, all the patience and hard work would be for nothing." She then looked back at him. "But when the seed is given enough time, space, and care, it will blossom into the most beautiful flower of them all." He just looked at her, absorbing all that was told to him. _'She's right.'_

With that, she stepped on the gas and the car sped down the open road.

* * *

Sakura was dragged down a long staircase until they made it to a huge underground room with a door at the far end. _'What's going on?'_ then she saw Orochimaru in the center of the room. The room was dim with nothing but candles to keep the place lit up. The candles were lined up all along the walls, flickering continuously. The space was really quite big. _'How the heck did they get a room like this under a castle?'_ she was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed she was still being pulled around like a rag doll. 

"Okay, you know what? Let go of me!" she wrenched her arm out of Gaara's grip and looked at the two. "First, who the hell are you? And second, why the hell am I here?" she looked at the door. "It's not like all three of us can pull that door open."

Orochimaru snickered. "Oh but my dear," his voice still as slimy as ever, "You are the only one who can open it." his evil eyes glared down at her. "You are the only one who can use the key, but sadly, I'll have to kill you afterwards." He laughed. "At least you're leaving the world in good hands." He puts his arms up as if saying he was the one she was leaving the world to.

"Key? What are you talking about? I think you've been left alone for way too long. You're starting to go crazy old man." She glared at him then at Gaara. "And what did you do to my boyfriend? He didn't do anything to you!" she clenched her fists.

"Oh really? Well it wasn't me that got him into this, it was you. Meeting him at all was a bad idea. Making anyone close to you was a bad idea. Your destiny is nothing but guarding the key to this door, nothing more."

He began to walk slowly towards her as Gaara just crossed his arms across his chest and stood in place. "You see, I've been trying to find this door all my life. When I did though, the stupid legend said that it couldn't be opened by a mere human. It had to be the Haruno who held the key." He was now standing next to Gaara. "Too bad you had to be the last Haruno."

"The last Haruno? I thought Tsunade--" then she just shut her mouth and said bitterly, "She's in this too isn't she? She knows about all of this and my life, I know she does." She just tried to suppress her anger. "I'm the only one who doesn't know anything about this," she stated. "It's always been like that. I knew it wouldn't change."

"Well now that you don't feel like part of the world," Orochimaru approached her once more. "Why don't you get this all over with?"

"I don't have the key so don't even try. I have never seen or heard of a key like that, so why would I have it." she stared up into Orochimaru's eyes bravely. "Oh, yeah about that," Orochimaru just glared back down at her. "I can take care of the key part."

Sakura felt something slice through her skin on the left side of her stomach. She screamed and bent over holding the spot where she was bleeding. She took a look at the spot and saw a deep cut about as long as her hand. "What-t was that?" she looked up at Orochimaru who was holding a dagger with a crystal clear handle. It glimmered in the candle light.

"This is the Haruno family heirloom," he twisted the knife around in his hand. "Your blood was all that was needed." All the while, Gaara just watched, unflinching.

"W-why couldn't you j-just take blood from my parents-s?" she could barely talk, she was loosing blood at a slow pace but the pain was unbearable. "Well, you were the only one that the knife would respond to," the knife in his hand began to glow a bright white colour. "See? Don't you think I've already tried with your parents?"

"No," she looked at him with horror. "Y-you killed them? But I thought it was a car crash," she just couldn't believe it. Her family had already felt the wrath of this snake freak? "It was a car crash only," he grinned. "Set up."

Sakura was now on her knees, sitting on her legs. She clutched a hand full of sand. "It's your fault why I had to move, it's your fault that my parents died, it's your fault that my life ended up like this!" she got up slowly, not looking up, letting the sand slide through her fingers.

A single tear drop fell onto the sand covered ground. "It's your fault that I don't know who to love anymore; that sand using murderer behind you or the liar that flares up like an out of control forest fire."

Then her wound began to close slowly, easily seen through the torn clothes, giving a loud hissing noise in the process.

* * *

OKAY chapter 8. How'd you guys like it? Schools starting tomorrow so updates may take a while but I WILL update don't worry about it. Oh and after this story I'm planning on writing a new one with KakashixOC. It was a request by HikariStar77 and I thank her because now I have a good idea for a new story. It's going to be pure romance though but it should be pretty good. But I don't know. This story, The Life of an Assassin, was just like, yeah I'll write it but I didn't have much inspiration so I thought it wouldn't be that good, but hey look at what happened! Hahah so I'll just follow along with what my hands do with a pencil on paper and what they do when typing. 

REVIEWS PLEASE. Oh and thanks for everyone who gave reviews…yeah I know you guys know I don't own Naruto. I know you guys are smart enough so I don't really say it. heh. Oh and I don't do previews anymore ; cause I don't know what to put in the next chapter. Ever since like chapter 7 or something I've been improvising. So yeah that explains that.

- --writingzeaL


	9. A Promise Planned to Be Kept

**Chapter 9: A Promise Planned to Be Kept**

Both teams that drove to the castle ruins approached with great velocity in the hopes of saving their beloved friend. The sun was now staring down on both vehicles which drew nearer to the castle in different routes. Even though they hadn't met up yet, both teams had the same determination to save Sakura. Either it be saving a love, helping a sisterly friend or getting her daughter, so to speak.

Although Sakura didn't know they were doing this for her, she suddenly had the erg to escape from her kidnappers, both whom which were staring at her with intensity, but it was in fear. Orochimaru and Gaara gazed upon the teenager in both dread and amazement. They were staring because ever since she healed cut, something about her became completely different. Her body features were still the same yes, but her strength was unfathomable. She immediately came at Orochimaru with great speed and attempted to punch him square in the face but missed, only hitting the ground making large cracks of earth appear.

"What? How did you get so strong?" Orochimaru was now standing on top of a small cliff in the earthy room. He was frightened but showing it was out of the question. Gaara then got into fighting stance. "There was nothing in the legend about a super human appearing." Gaara said out loud still glaring at his opponent.

Something was different about Sakura. She just stood, head hanging down with her bangs concealing her eyes. She wasn't glowing in any particular colour so as it looked and occurred to Orochimaru and Gaara, she was still a normal girl, no powers revealed. They were absolutely wrong.

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The room grew quieter and quieter as everyone just stood still. Both kidnappers waited for what would happen next. Gaara soon gave up on his wait and began to walk in Sakura's direction. His face was as hard as solid rock. No emotion whatsoever. "I don't know what you're up to but you're out numbered."

Then out of the blue, Sakura began to talk but it wasn't her voice. A wise elderly voice could be heard from her and neither of the two men knew what was going on. They froze on the spot as they listened to her intently. "You have aroused my attention and you will regret it greatly." Sakura looked up and her eyes were glowing white. Her body soon became like a puppet as she sped across the room to Orochimaru. "You do not know the consequences of opening that chamber."

Before she could reach Orochimaru, the door that they entered the area through opened with a loud bang. The door broke from the center out and fell causing a large cloud of dust appear. When everything cleared up, Sasuke and Naruto were seen running into the area, scanning anxiousy.

"Sakura? Where are you?" Naruto yelled in between coughs. He used his hands to swipe away the dust as Sasuke did the same. Naruto was about to say something else but before he could, a fist swung from the dust and smacked him hard in the face making him fall in agony. Sasuke spun around looking for Naruto who suddenly disappeared from his sight. From behind, he felt a sharp pain as he was flung off to the distance.

"What the hell is going on?" he coughed and spat out blood. "Damn it," he felt his tongue and tasted blood squirting out. Apparently, when he got hit, he bit his tongue incredibly hard. A cut was now visible on his tongue.

"Naruto! Are you okay?" there was still a big cloud of dust and sand so he couldn't quite see very well, let alone breath. Naruto just moaned. Sasuke followed the moan until he accidentally stepped on something. It was shining a bright white colour but he couldn't quite tell what it was. He was going to pick it up when he felt someone punch him right in the gut, winding him in the process.

"Oh, so you're back again birthday candle? I don't really know why you like losing so much." Gaara stepped close enough to Sasuke so he could be seen. "You think you can win in this arena? This is my turf buddy. Just look around you, sand everywhere." He grinned and looked at the Uchiha. Then Sasuke just ran into the dust cloud. _'At least I can hide for now.'_

This was Gaara's territory but he had some weaknesses. He could control the sand but he had to use his own vision. So basically, the sand cloud had its pros and cons for him as well. To be on the safe side, Gaara crept silently, using his sand to feel around him. For many moments, he couldn't sense a thing. He then heard another moan that sounded like Naruto and it was very loud. It was so loud that it seemed to be right on the floor next to Gaara's feet. He began to bend down slowly.

Naruto then abruptly shot up from his position and crashed his fist into Gaara's confused and shocked face. Gaara was pushed back as Naruto got up and got into fighting position. "You seriously need to get a new job," he referred to the way Gaara was acting like a dummy working for Orochimaru. "You know, one of those jobs at Starbucks. The coffee is great seriously and the pay isn't that bad." Naruto chuckled and darted towards Gaara.

Although Naruto thought of that as funny, Gaara didn't one bit. His eyes filled with rage as his battle raged on with the blond haired obnoxious boy.

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Sasuke had soon forgotten about Gaara as he saw Sakura battling it out with the snake he despised. He took a closer look and saw that Sakura was the one who had the advantage in the fight. "When did she learn how to fight?" Sasuke said to himself and he cocked an eyebrow at the thought of her suddenly turning into a fighter with a black belt. "If she fought this good, why was she taken so easily by Orochimaru?" he brushed all of the thoughts off and ran for her.

Orochimaru was now dodging Sakura's blows but every blow got more accurate every time. No matter how hard he tried to get away from her, he couldn't shake her off his tail. He also learned that she had immense strength and power after he saw he crack the ground open with just her fist. "Orochimaru, you have interfered with life as it was supposed to be for this girl. She was supposed to live a normal life but you had to go and search for her, making her life a living nightmare." The person talking inside Sakura was the guardian of the gate that was before them now and she wasn't supposed to be let out until two years later. Now that she was released before her time, the rightful master has not yet been born. Sakura was merely a shell to hide the guardian until one day, the guardian would be born into a human. Guess things didn't go as planned.

Orochimaru ran for the dust cloud trying to escape her wrath but before he could reach it, he was hit aside by a powerful force. "Can't go in there." Sasuke stood a few feet away from Orochimaru's stunned body. Sasuke had just swung a fierce punch at his stomach, winding him in the process. He then saw Sakura standing straight with her feet safely on the ground. Her eyes were still as white though.

Sasuke didn't know what happened and why her eyes were white so he panicked a little bit and ran to her. "S-Sakura, what happened to you?" he grabbed her shoulders and looked straight at her face. She was just looking straight ahead and it looked like he didn't hear him. "Sakura?" he shook her a little bit; still no answer. _'What the hell is going on?'_ Sasuke turned his head as he saw Orochimaru grown and try to get up. He turned his head back to Sakura. "Come on Sakura, we can still get out of here," before he could finish his statement, she began to talk. "If the gate is opened, the beat inside will reek havoc all over the world." She still didn't look at him.

Then Orochimaru was standing right up and grinned as he slouched over a little. "The serpent inside had the ability to make anyone immortal. I will be that person. I will also become it's master as I go with him to cause chaos. I said before that I'd only kill a few million." Orochimaru gave a course laugh. "But sometimes you have to sacrifice a few people don't you agree," Orochimaru looked up at the area around him and Gaara, out of nowhere, threw a kunai at the particular spot that Orochimaru was looking at. "Hatake Kakashi."

Two people suddenly jumped out of the large crack in the wall and landed in the side furthest from Sasuke and Sakura, making a semi-circle around Orochimaru. "Snake," there was hatred in Kakashi's voice which mad Sasuke wince. He knew he despised Orochimaru but he had never heard Kakashi like that before.

Then from the cloud of dust, Naruto ran out and stopped in the last open space to complete the circle coughing and wet with sweat. Everything was soon silent.

With one swift move, Gaara blew out all the candles with his sand and all that could be seen before total darkness took over was Orochimaru's two bright yellow eyes.

Now that everything was in pure blackness, the white glowing knife and Sakura could clearly be seen. They shone so brightly that they illuminated around three feet around themselves. Of course Sakura wasn't herself at the time but Sasuke thought she was an angle. _'Why the hell do you have to think like that at a time like this? Man,' _Sasuke told himself. Everything was silent one more time before everyone charged for the knife.

Sasuke ran as fast as he could for the knife. Actually he was the first one to it. He was about to pick it up when he was knocked over by someone, most likely Orochimaru. "Ow, what the," Sasuke got up quickly and charged at his attacker. He approached at the speed of light and saw two big yellow eyes before he tripped after trying to grasp nothing but thin air.

As he looked up he could see the bright white glow move from side to side avoiding what seemed to be punches and kicks. Sasuke had had it with the whole Marco Polo thing. He got up and held his arm out before him. "Okay, so maybe this really isn't a good idea but I have no other choice." He closed his eyes tightly and snapped his fingers. He waited for a few moments before he opened his eyes in confusion.

There was nothing.

He snapped again out of pure panic. "Why isn't it working?" he looked around o see where everyone was. It was still as dark as ever and Sasuke didn't like it. He stared at his hands in disbelieve, although he couldn't see them. He tried his eyes. He blinked hard and hoped it would work. He had a feeling it wouldn't though because usually he felt them change. At that moment, he couldn't feel a thing. He opened his eyes and still saw the bright white glow of the room but the predicting effect wasn't there. He saw everything normally, like he used too. "What?"

From behind him, the wise guardian ran passed him and said a brief thing, "Evil cannot be beaten by cheating." With that she ran towards the same bright light. _'What did she mean by that? And what am I doing standing here!"_ he snapped out of his blank state and ran for it. Those words were still in his head though. "Evil cannot be beaten by cheating. Does she know something about this?"

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Back with Orochimaru, he was having the time of his life. He was laughing while everyone was going for him. "Ha, you guys are too slow." He was headed for the door along with the key, or knife per say. From left right and center, everyone was throwing punches at him but he knew it wasn't at full power because they were scared of hitting each other. That was the perfect plan, turning the lights off. Now no one could stop him from getting what he wanted.

He was nearing the door.

From behind Sasuke was running at top speed trying to catch up with Orochimaru. Someone blocked his way. "Where do you think you're going?" Sasuke just sighed angrily because he knew that voice. "Gaara."

Naruto came up behind Gaara and jumped him. Gaara struggled and pried Naruto off his back. "Not both of you," Gaara chuckled. "I don't want to make you two lose that badly. It would look bad on your record if both of you were beaten by me." Then sand surrounded him.

"Wait, how is he doing that?" Sasuke asked Naruto even though he knew Naruto had no clue what he was talking about. "What?" _'Just as I thought.'_ "Naruto, my powers don't work!" Naruto stopped and looked dumbfounded at Sasuke. "…What?" then Gaara hit him right on the side of his face.

Sasuke, in turn, struck Gaara back and continued his talk with Naruto while helping him up. "That's what I said. They don't work but Gaara's do!" they were both split apart when Gaara ran for them. They both went separate ways but stilled talked. "See, he can still control sand. I can't even light up my finger." Then they were all lost. For some reason the light suddenly went out. Sasuke heard Naruto and felt a sharp pain on his right shoulder, then on his stomach. "Naruto," Sasuke coughed from not being able to breathe. "Stop hitting me."

Sasuke closed his eyes from the pain. He heard Naruto apologize but then stopped. "You know you can continue with the apologizing Naruto." Sasuke then opened his eyes and found to his surprise that the whole place was lit up but by the same blinding white light that the knife emitted. He searched for the source of the light and found that Orochimaru has inserted the knife into its keyhole on the door. Now the door was giving off the same glow. "Oh shit." Was all Sasuke could say.

Orochimaru had just put used the only key that could open the door that lead to complete chaos. It was too late to stop the door from opening now. Orochimaru just stood there, hands above his head and large smirk on his face. He was victorious in opening the door and all that awaited him was immortality. This wasn't good at all.

The door slowly opened as everything was visible, now that the light dimmed down a little bit. When the door was fully open, there was pitch blackness inside. Everyone stared and waited for something to happen unexpectedly but nothing came after a few minutes. "What's going on?" Naruto was the first one to speak up. "Where's the big gush of magic?" Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's statement and smacked him in the head annoyingly. "Ow! What I was just asking," Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

He was about to hit Sasuke back when he heard a dangerously low hiss and the floor began to rumble slowly. Everyone jumped at the feeling of the ground except for Sakura who just stood there as if nothing was happening. "Orochimaru will regret this ever happening." She said.

From what seemed to be the pits of hell, a humongous snake came slithering out. Its black and blue scales glimmered in the light and its blood red eyes stared down at the group as if it were going to strike at that very moment. Everything about it was deadly; the looks and the feeling of it just being there.

Then to everyone's surprise, it began to speak. "Who has dared to open my chambers?" there was a slight hint of sliminess in its voice. It eyed everyone in the room and its eyes fell upon Orochimaru who suddenly spoke up. The grin of his face began to scare everyone. He looked even more like a mad man when he showed his teeth.

The snake just stared down at Orochimaru, studying him. No one spoke in fear of being eaten by the creature. "You are not the one," the snake abruptly spoke up. Orochimaru stared in disbelief. "What are you talking about? I was the one who inserted the key. I was the one who went through all of the trouble trying to get it to activate. It was me!" Orochimaru was now angry at the beast for not accepting him as its master. "What about the promise of immortality? What about the chaos in the world?"

The snake was growing impatient with Orochimaru. After resisting Orochimaru's rambling, the snake struck at Orochimaru, fangs bared. The snake's head went down on Orochimaru so quickly that Orochimaru didn't even have the time to scream out. All that could be heard was Orochimaru's body sliding down into the pit of the snake's stomach. Everyone at this point wanted to just run out. Gaara on the other hand just looked up at the monster without flinching, even if his so called 'master' was eaten.

When Orochimaru was finally gone, the snake brought its head up once again and stared down at everyone. "Now who was the one who activated the key that caused my awakening?" everyone else except for Naruto and Sasuke knew of the legend and knew it was Sakura who activated the knife.

"I did." Everyone looked at Sakura who was standing still glowing in a bright white colour. "I am the guardian of your chamber and this girl is the last known Haruno." The snake looked at her with its crimson eyes. It brought its head down so that his eyes were able to see the girl closely. In fact, its eye was the same size as Sakura herself. "Ah, yes. It's you, Seraph. Long time no see." The snake had suddenly become as deadly as acid. "Why would you of all people set me free? Hmm? I thought when you sealed me, you wanted it to stay that way." There was a hint of a grin on the snake's large face. "As you can see, I easily disposed of one of you and I can do so again." Everyone just gawked, too bewildered to speak.

"What's going on?" Naruto of course was the one to blurt that out.

The snake's eyes instantly shot towards Naruto. He jumped, whimpered then hid behind Sasuke. "Oh so there's a loud mouth huh? Well I can deal with you." He snake was about to strike once again when a large sand pile hit the side of the snakes face. It was Gaara but there was something different. His tattoo wasn't glowing red anymore and neither were his eyes. He was indeed the Gaara everyone knew but this time, he actually knew he had powers. "Don't you dare hurt them."

The snake turned all the way around to face Gaara. "Oh do you think you can stop me? You're just like the others only with a little bit of a cheat sheet." Gaara gathered as much sand as he could and launched it at the snake. "You can't beat me even if you tried big guy. No one can get through a solid wall like me." Gaara said sincerely and took a glance at Sakura. During this incident, Sakura's will broke free from the Seraph for only a few moments. "I know everything now. About me murdering those innocent people, me having destructive powers and such. I just want to let you know Sakura that I did and always will love you." Tears streamed down Gaara's face and he looked at everyone and stopped at Sasuke. While he talked to Sasuke, he held off the raging snake with his sand wall. "Sasuke please," Gaara was crying but he kept an honest smile on his face. "Please take care of Sakura for me," the snake was slowly breaking free from the sand and waving its tail around madly causing the place to fall apart. "Protect her with your life."

With that, Gaara waved his free hand and carried everyone away with his sand. Everyone except for Sakura was screaming and crying. Sasuke was left dumbfounded though. He didn't know what to say or do. All he did was sit on the moving sand and stare at the back of Gaara's retreating form. Sakura didn't want to leave Gaara and Sasuke knew it.

The Seraph's spirit had left Sakura's body and disappeared.

The place began to tear down, sand and rock began to fall from the ceiling and walls. Everyone was now safely outside of the castle and watched it slowly crumble into dust. Sakura was crying endlessly and screaming out Gaara's name. Naruto restrained her for he knew she would kill herself by running into the ruins if he let her go. Naruto was crying as well as he struggled to keep her from escaping.

The last sound that was heard was the roar of a great and dangerous beast by the name Chaos. He was sealed away once again, never to be found.

Sasuke stepped up in front of everyone and the sobbing Sakura who was now on her knees. Sasuke stared into the sky and tears flowed through his eyes. "You said evil couldn't be defeated by cheating?" he yelled out to the sky. He didn't actually expect someone to answer him. "He did not cheat. Gaara fought from the heart. His powers were all his, he took over his evil form because he wanted all of you to be safe." The Seraph's image stood before them all right at that moment. "He was sincere when he said he loved you Sakura," Sakura looked up still slouched and crying. "He did this for you and please do move on. It would be for the best. He's here with me up in the heavens. Don't worry about him now, he's happy where he is." The Seraph smiled at all of them and disappeared, only to be replaced by the shining sun that never aged.

Everyone was left to stare at the spot in the sky where they last saw the Seraph. They knew seeing an angel was an impossible thing for ordinary people but they've gone through so much that they didn't think twice about it being weird. They thought it was very normal now but still, everyone sobbed at the thought of someone they felt very close too die for their sake.

It indeed was a very sad day for the group.

Sasuke thought back to what Gaara had said to him before they were carried away to freedom, away from being captive to an underground room. _"Please take care of Sakura for me, protect her with your life."_ Sasuke didn't know if he could help Sakura now, her boyfriend had just died and for all he knew, she would spas at him. He knew he'd be hurt if she yelled at him, she was the only one who changed him. He didn't want to risk it. But his thoughts were changed when he looked up at the sky. A fluffy white cloud, out of coincidence he thought, made the shape of Gaara's face. No matter how many times Sasuke blinked or looked away, the cloud was still there.

His eyes fell from the clouds to Sakura. _'No, I promised Gaara and I will do whatever I can to keep things the way he wanted them too.'_ He thought of how sad Sakura must be feeling at the moment. _'Gaara, I'm doing this for you and for Sakura. I know she still loves you but I will never stop loving her. Don't worry, I will take care of her.'_ He smiled at the sky and closed his eyes, feeling the rays of the sun.

All that could be seen in the sun's light were people, just ordinary, normal people who lived in a world where fate took place. They walk away into the horizon, never ever forgetting what had happened to them.

"_I will protect her until the sun refuses to shine_

_Until the rivers stop flowing into the sea_

_I vow that Sakura will be the happiest girl in the world_

_Thank you Gaara for everything."_

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Epilogue

**Months later…**

I stuck to my promise. That's all I have to say. I finally got Sakura to let everything out and move on. She seemed really depressed for a while but no one said I left her side. I was there the whole time. I even moved into her apartment.

My old apartment was sold a few weeks ago to a couple that I didn't know of. I bet they would be happy in a nice apartment suit though. I was happy enough to stay with Sakura. She needed me anyway and I was more than happy to be with her.

Just about three days ago, I asked her to go out with me. You know the typical walk on the beach and dinner at a fancy restaurant. She told me before that she didn't care where we went but I just told her that she deserved the best and she just skipped along happily. I don't really know but seeing her like that brightens up my day. Everyone says I've changed. I didn't want to admit it at first but I couldn't deny it.

After the date, I asked her if she would be my girlfriend. I knew this was sudden and thought it would make her break down but at the moment, she just had a smile plastered on her face. She was grinning at me slyly. After waiting for like eternity, she finally said that she would answer me when the time was right.

Part of me was relieved and the other a bit on edge. I was relieved because at least the hard part was over but the part where I had to wait was suspenseful. I just brushed it off, it was Sakura. I knew she would pull through sooner or later.

Here I am now, waiting in Sakura's apartment with a whole bunch of other people with the lights off. It was March 21st, her birthday. We set up a surprise party for her and decided it would be best if it were to take place at her house.

The door opened silently and her pink hair was visible in the hallway light that appeared behind her. She dropped her keys on the table and flicked the lights on. Everything lit up. Everyone jumped out of their hiding places and yelled "Happy Birthday Sakura!" her face was priceless. She was smiling again. The biggest smile I've seen yet.

The party went on and everyone began to chatter and sit in groups talking about their lives and such while I stood by the window staring out into the black night. _'The same night of that day,'_ I felt a small tap on my shoulders and turned around.

"Oh hey birthday girl. Enjoying the party so far?" I grinned. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" she looked down at her feet with a smile and then looked back up at me. "Do you want to step outside?" I nodded and followed her out onto the porch.

It was a beautiful night with the full moon shining down on Sakura's face, illuminating every feature causing me to fall in love with her even more. "Sasuke," she said staring out at the city lights. I just stood beside her and waited for her to continue as I too looked out into the city. It was breathtaking. All the lights seemed to cover a huge Christmas tree.

There was silence then she turned to me and looked me straight in the eye. What got me questioning in my mind was why she was smiling. "Yes." Was what she said to me. I looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out what she was saying. Then it hit me. I screamed at the top of my lungs with joy and happiness. She had said yes to becoming my girlfriend and I was thrilled. More than what words could ever describe.

I encircled my arms around her waist and spun her around and around. She clung to me and it felt so good knowing that she was going to be there, always. I put her down and kissed her gently on the lips. It was unreal. I finally got to kiss the girl I loved, and it was amazing. Indescribable.

We broke the kiss and my forehead stuck to hers. I closed my eyes and sighed. "This night can't get any better." I whispered. "I know."

I got out of the embrace and took her hand. "Wait, I still have one thing to show you." He ran back into the apartment suit and out into the hallway with Sakura in tow. The elevator took us down to the main floor and we ran and got onto my new motorcycle; a slick blue motorcycle that was given to me by none other than Hatake Kakashi.

Sakura got the other helmet and held on tight to me. I drove swiftly all the way to the school football field. We got off and snuck into the field through an open space in the fence. We ran a little longer until we got to the center of the field where a box waited for them.

"What's that Sasuke?" Sakura asked me with pure confusion. I bent down and opened the boxed slowly. Inside were fireworks of all different sizes. She gasped and smiled widely. I knew she loved fireworks. I took her hand and walked many meters away from the box. "Ready Sakura?" I asked. She nodded in response.

I lit my arm up on fire and threw a fire ball at the box. Immediately the box blew up and many different coloured rockets flew in every direction and exploded in the sky making large flower patterns. Turns out my powers came back a few weeks after the incident. There was something in the underground room, probably in the sand, that made my powers cease to exist. I didn't know what kind of mineral would cause something as powerful as my powers stop but it was sure powerful. I actually began to miss my powers after a while. I'm glad they're back.

"This night was perfect Sasuke, thank you so much." She kissed me again and I knew she was happy. I could feel it. We embraced each other under the beautiful designs that formed in the sky. Then I looked up and spoke, "Thank you Gaara." very softly.

After that, I had never mentioned the Orochimaru incident to just anyone. I kept it to myself and my friends but then again, they were my only family and I liked it that way. That was my life. I never thought it would end up like that. I expected it to be less perfect. God must've been nice to me. But that was only the beginning of a new journey.

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That was the last chapter guys! XD I know I really didn't like my ending much but that's all I could do. Hope you enjoyed it and I will try and get a new Sasu/Saku story going. For now though please check out my new story "Life is One Big Book." The characters aren't Sasu/Saku but the story should be pretty good. Thanks again HikariStar77 and to all of my readers who reviewed. Good luck with your stories as well and this is goodbye for now.

- --writingzeaL


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